When Life Gives You Lemons
by WordsOnThePage718
Summary: Alec is 19 when his parents are in a car accident and he's ultimately left to look after his little brother Max. Things are tough for Alec at the start but his luck starts to look up when Max starts Day Care and he makes friends with a little boy named Finn, who's got a very attractive Dad! M eventually..
1. Chapter 1

*Ring Ring, Ring Ring*

Alec woke up suddenly to the ringing of his phone on his bedside table. He looked at the clock to see it was 6.25am and his alarm was due to go off any minute anyhow. His parents were coming home today from their trip to LA, so he had set his alarm early so he could make sure the house was neat and tidy before they got back. Not that it was him that made any of the mess whilst they were away, it was Izzy and Jace who had a house party a couple of nights ago and hadn't yet made any effort to clean up after themselves. He didn't want any of them to face the wrath of his parents even though he felt it somewhat unfair that he was the only one who cared enough to do anything about it.

Whilst rolling out of bed Alec picked up his phone and eyed the caller ID, nobody he recognised so he let it go to voicemail considering it was so early. His parents were due back in a few hours so he threw on some clothes and went to the kitchen to grab a bin bag to start picking up empty beer bottles and red plastic cups. He was making progress when his phone rang again from his pocket. It was the same number as earlier so Alec picked up the call, assuming that the caller would keep trying and he wouldn't be able to make any more progress with tidying.

"Hello" said Alec gruffly into the phone.

"Hello, is this Alexander Lightwood?" asked the serious voice on the other end.

"Yes, how can I help?" Alec said

"Hello, I'm Doctor Wilson, and I'm afraid I have some bad news", there was a pause and in this brief moment Alec processed what the Doctor has said. When Alec didn't respond the Doctor continued "I believe I have your parents and little brother in the ICU here at the Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles, their car was hit head on by a runaway truck on the 405 highway towards the airport last night". Alec let out a squeak, he had never really got on with his parents, especially not recently, but he did of course care that they were hurt. The reason for the giant sob that he let out was his little brother "Is.. Is Max okay?" Alec practically yelled down the phone. "If you are referring to your little brother, then yes he's fine, he will be kept in for a short while for observation, and until you or another family member can come here to collect him". Alec let out a huge sigh of relief, then felt guilty that he hadn't asked about his parents… "and my parents, how are they?". "They are both in the operating theatre now, they have suffered a lot of internal bleeding, I would recommend you get here as soon as possible." the Doctor said in her best calming voice. "Okay, okay. Yea, we'll get on a plane now."

With that, Alec ended the call, threw his phone on the sofa and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He dropped the bin bag on floor with a thunk and ran upstairs to Izzy's room. He pushed the door open urgently and rushed over to Izzy's bed, grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the bed. "Alec?" Izzy murmured sleepily. "Come on Izzy. Mum, Dad and Max were in a car accident last night and they're in the ICU in LA". Alec replied in one breath, whilst he went to Izzy's wardrobe and hauled a suitcase from it and onto the floor. Izzy shrieked "Is Max okay?" Izzy's feelings towards their parents were similar, if not worse than Alec's. "Yea, he's fine, but he's on his own, being looked after by strangers, whilst Mum and Dad are in the operating theatre. We need to get to the airport now, pack some clothes".

Alec went across the hall to Jace's room, he was already sitting up in bed "What's all the thudding and shouting about?" Jace questioned. "We have to get to LA now, Mum, Dad and Max were in an accident. Mum and Dad are being operated on now so Max is on his own." Jace jumped out of bed and started rifling through his drawers. Now Izzy and Jace were getting on with their packing, he went back to his own room to grab some of his clothes and shoved them into a backpack. He packed the barest minimum and then sat at his desk and opened his laptop and bought the first flights he could find to LA.

Less than twenty minutes later Alec, Jace and Izzy were in a cab to JFK. Izzy and Jace were sitting silently staring out the windows in the back as Alec was politely answering the driver's small talk with "mmhmm" and "yea" periodically. He wasn't listening, so he hoped he was answering in the right places. All he could think about was Max sitting in a coldly decorated hospital room with some miserable nurse checking on him and trying to comfort him, when Alec knew that wouldn't be possible. Max was only two, but he was a very shy two year old and hadn't ever really been looked after by anyone other than his parents or siblings.

The plane ride felt longer than it was to all three of the Lightwood siblings; Alec couldn't stomach even attempting to eat something and Izzy and Jace picked at their food. Finally, they touched down in LA, snatched their luggage from the overhead locker and hurried through the airport as quickly as they could, all wanting to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

When they arrived at the hospital Alec ran up to the front desk with Izzy and Jace right behind him. They all pretty much roared at the receptionist "Which room is Max Lightwood in?" over the top of each other. The receptionist had them answer some questions which Alec answered with minimal patience and she eventually told them his room number. Alec left Izzy and Jace stragelling behind him as he went to the elevator and pressed the up button repeatedly until the doors dinged open. All three siblings piled into the elevator and went up to the 4th floor where Max's room was located. They once again ran and skidded down the hallway until they arrived outside the door of Max's room. Alec burst through the door to find a nurse with Max in her lap rubbing his back trying to stop his crying. Alec took Max straight into his arms and held him so tight to his chest that Izzy had to pull Alec's arms away slightly to make sure Max could still breathe. Max immediately relaxed into Alec and nuzzled his face into Alec's neck, whilst Alec stroked his hair trying to get him to calm down. This worked after a minute or so and Alec, Izzy and Jace all let out a breath they had seemingly been holding until they saw that Max was alive and well.

It was at this moment that a short, blonde haired woman walked into the room and introduced herself as Doctor Wilson, the Doctor Alec had spoken on the phone with earlier that morning. She had a frown on her face and asked Alec if he could put Max down so she could talk to all the Lightwoods outside for a minute. Alec refused to let go of Max, even when Jace offered to stay behind and look after him whilst Alec and Izzy talked to the Doctor. Although Jace considered himself well and truly brother to Alec, Izzy and Max he hadn't completely come to terms with being part of the Lightwood family and felt that this was a family moment.

The Doctor could tell that Alec wasn't going to let Max out of his sight so she asked the nurse if there was any reason she needed Max to stay in his room. The nurse replied that there didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with Max but he was so inconsolable that he had made himself sick, so she had been assigned to just sit with him. With that confirmation the Doctor said that Alec could choose to discharge Max and look after him himself given he was over 18. Alec immediately asked where the discharge papers were and signed them.

After that was over Alec recalled the Doctor wanted to speak with them. She lead them to an empty room with a few tables and chairs and asked them to sit down. Alec sat down with a now sleeping Max on his lap and looked at the doctor expectantly, whilst Izzy and Jace did the same.

"I'm afraid neither of your parents survived their operations..." Doctor Wilson began. She was obviously expecting some sort of reaction from the siblings but when none came she continued "your mother hit her head in the accident and had bleeding on the brain, we think this lead to a stroke during the operation. And your father had a lot of internal bleeding in his chest cavity, and when we opearted to try to remove this to relieve pressure on his heart and lungs, he lost too much blood during the surgery." All three siblings continued to stare blankly at the Doctor. "I'm so sorry for your loss, I wish there was more we could do". Izzy seemingly managed to break out of the spell and asked the Doctor "How come Max survived, if both our parents were so badly hurt?". Alec answered the question in his own head - Max was sitting in the back of the car in his car seat when the truck hit the front of the car head on. He realised he hadn't told Izzy or Jace how the car accident had happened, just that they had been in one. The Doctor went in to more detail with Izzy and Jace asking further questions as Alec continued to be in a world of his own. He stared down at Max's small face as he snored softly. What would happen now? Max would grow up without parents. Him and Izzy and Jace would have to get through life on their own too. Although his parents hadn't been the greatest parents, often flying off around the country and leaving them to their own devices, he would miss them. If only for the fact that they wouldn't be there to support them financially anymore. No, Alec would miss them for more than that. When he was a kid, they had been good parents and he would try to remember them like that.

Alec startled when Jace put his hand on Alec's shoulder. "Come on bro, we need you to sign some more papers, let me take Max whilst you do that". Alec reluctantly passed the still sleeping toddler over to Jace and followed the Doctor.

A week later all four Lightwood siblings were back at home, adjusting to life without the supervision of their parents. Alec found that Izzy and Jace had somewhat forced upon him, once again, all the responsibility, and he was having to make arrangements for funerals, what would happen with their parents assets and Max's future. He didn't really blame them, Izzy was only 18, having just finished school and although Jace was a few months older than Alec but he had never been the mature one of the three of them.

Alec made the decision to quit college, he was only a third of the way through and he hadn't yet decided on a major so didn't feel like it was a huge waste if he stayed at home to look after Max. He forced Jace to carry on with his degree, and settled on the fact that they would use their inheritance to pay for it and also if Izzy chose to go to school in the future. He cared more about the future of his siblings than he did for his own, but Alec had always been like that. He put other people first, especially his siblings and that wasn't about to change.

It was late July when the funerals took place. The night before, Max had been awake almost the whole night crying. He was young and didn't understand where his Mum was, although he was getting used to having Alec around all the time over the last few weeks, he still had times where he would cry for his Mama for hours on end. Unfortunately last night had been one of those night and he had ended up in Alec's bed with him, meaning Alec didn't get much sleep with Max's little legs kicking him every so often. Alec tried to dress Max in some black chinos and a black button up shirt but he wasn't having any of it. Max squirmed and cried until Alec walked out of his room and passed the clothes over to Izzy with a simple "Help me please". It was at that moment that Izzy realised she hadn't been supporting her older brother as much as she should have been, instead she had been selfishly sulking that she would now have to look after herself and didn't have her parents to pay for her designer shoe habit anymore. Alec had informed her that the inheritance would be used to pay for the upkeep of the house, their education and to look after Max. She had negotiated an 'allowance' each month but Alec was sticking to his guns and it wouldn't nearly be the amount she was used to.

Izzy went to get Max from Alec's room and distracted him with a book whilst Alec yanked Max's trousers up his skinny legs. Once Max was finally dressed Alec went to his room and left Izzy reading to Max. He sat on his bed, stared at his plain white wall and let the tears fall. This was the first time he had let himself cry, he knew he needed to be strong for the others and he couldn't do that if he was having a breakdown every other day. After ten minutes of the tears flowing down his face, he pulled himself together and went to shower and get himself ready for the day.

The funerals were a somber affair, of course. It was nice to hear the words of some of his parents' friends, some he had never met, who came up afterwards and talked about the good memories they had with the Lightwood parents. When the day was over Alec drove himself and his younger siblings home, picking up some pizza on the way.

They sat on the sofa together, all crammed on to one with Max lying across all three of their laps, stretched out. They put cartoons on so Max would be entertained while they sat and talked about what their lives would be like now they had made the final step in putting their parents to rest. Alec had done a lot of thinking about this, but not much talking, and ultimately decided that he didn't want his siblings lives to have to change. As much as could be prevented obviously. So much had changed in the last few weeks but he was determined that Jace and Izzy would shortly continue on as normal and he would settle further into the life of looking after a two year old full time.

By the end of September, Jace was back at college in Syracuse, Izzy had applications in for a few fashion design courses and Max was nearly back to being a chirpy two, almost three year old. Alec felt that the worst was behind them, and in fact, he had done a fairly good job at looking after his siblings through this massive change in their lives. With that thought, after putting Max down, he treated himself to a beer from the fridge and sat down at his laptop to research what he could now do with his own life, whilst having the task of raising a toddler.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec awoke to the sound of a shouting toddler from the room next door. This was often the way he got woken up these days. Izzy's room was further down the hall, and she was a very heavy sleeper, so she always got the lie in, whilst Alec had to get up and tend to Max.

Max was standing up in his cot, holding on to the edge and jumping up and down when Alec wearily padded into his room. Upon seeing Alec he reached for him with his little arms until Alec picked him up and balanced him on his hip whilst he opened the curtains to let some light in. It was only when he did this, did he really notice that it wasn't even properly daylight outside yet. He fondly remembered the days, not even that long ago, when he would be able to sleep in until 10 or 11 most days. Alec chastised himself for having that thought and said in a gentle voice to Max "I'd rather be awake at 6am with you, than have you halfway across the country with some foster family" whilst giving Max a big squeeze round his tummy and then blowing a raspberry on his cheek. Max giggled and then wriggled until Alec let him down. He ran off downstairs and shortly after Alec heard the tv come on. He was amazed that Max couldn't yet really feed himself properly but he could work a tv remote absolutely no problem. Alec sighed and went downstairs after Max, falling face first on the sofa, nearly drifting off to sleep again until Max came and sat on top of him. Alec rolled over with Max still on top of him, slightly lifting him so he could turn more easily and then pulled Max down to his chest to snuggle whilst they watched cartoons together.

Later that day, Alec was grocery shopping with Max in the trolley, trying to make the toddler stop grabbing things off the shelves when he wasn't looking. It was Max's favourite game at the grocery store, and although Alec usually caught Max's wrist and removed whatever he had a grip on and put it back, he often got to the checkout and found something random in the trolley. Today, it was rather embarrassingly a box of condoms, and Alec flushed as he had to fish them out of the trolley and leave them on the side of the checkout. He didn't have any use for those, so there was no point buying them, even if to avoid embarrassment. The checkout girl eyed him strangely and Alec just garbled out the story that it was his little brother's favourite game causing his flush to worsen. The checkout girl just laughed awkwardly and started scanning.

As Alec was walking to the car with the bags in one arm, dragging Max with the other, Max decided that jumping up and hanging off Alec's arm was another fun game. Alec told him to stop but Alec had never really had to be an authority figure with Max so it didn't have quite the impact he was looking for. After one particularly high jump from Max, Alec lost his balance and a few items spilled from the top of the shopping bags out onto the parking lot floor. Alec lost his patience then and shouted at Max. He was tired from the early starts and still trying to settle into this new life as a guardian to Max, as well as still reeling slightly from his parents death. Max immediately stopped, let go of Alec's arm and then burst into tears. Alec felt so guilty, he knelt down in front of Max, dropped the shopping bags on the floor and brought Max into the circle of his arms. Max was shaking and sobbing so Alec scooped him up and paced back and forth in the car park rubbing Max's back trying to sooth him. Eventually it worked but it didn't make Alec feel any better about what he had done. This 'parenting' thing was really hard.

When they were home Alec cooked a kid friendly dinner and then called Izzy down to eat. Upon seeing the chicken nuggets on her plate Izzy screwed her nose up and complained "Alec, I know you want to make food that Max eats but can we not eat something healthier and less kid oriented every once in a while?" After the day Alec had, he was not in the greatest mood, so spit out "Of course Izzy. Or you know what? You could cook every once in a while, instead of leaving me to deal with Max AND everything else in this house" his voice raising at the end. With that Izzy apologised and promised that she would help with Max more. Alec had heard that before though and didn't hold out hope that it would get any better but the conversation flowed more smoothly after that and they got onto lighter topics like Izzy's applications for her fashion design courses. She hadn't heard back yet, and wouldn't expect to for another couple of weeks. Getting bored of talking about something she couldn't control, Izzy chose this moment to inform Alec that she would be going on a date the following evening and then continued to talk for another hour about this guy she had met at a coffee shop earlier that day. Alec pretended to listen whilst he was cutting up chicken nuggets and scooping them on a spoon to give to Max.

Later that evening after Alec had put Max to bed and by the sounds of it Izzy was in her room skyping with her friends, Alec found himself sitting on his bed with his laptop open thinking about the awful day he had had. He felt bad for shouting at Max and Izzy but he was a little bit jealous that Izzy could have a life still, go on dates, go out for coffee, get an education. In fact, he would even go so far to say he was bitter about it - life had well and truly given him lemons. Before the accident, he hadn't had his whole life planned out by any means but he was enjoying college, had experimented a bit in his sexuality and didn't really have a whole lot to worry about. He thought about a way he could improve his life, he had to look more positively on it. It wasn't all lemons. Although he wouldn't change looking after Max for the world, he realised that he needed a break from basically being a dad at the age of 19. He resolved to spend some time applying for jobs round the neighbourhood the following day. This made Alec feel a little better and his thoughts turned to the awkward moment at the grocery store. It wasn't only his purpose in life that he needed to work on, he needed to work on himself too. There was a fair bit of pent up frustration in him and he knew he needed to release that somehow. He was, after all, a hormonal young man who hadn't been on a date in nearly seven months and he hadn't felt like doing anything about it since his parents had died and Max was thrust upon him. Just making the simple decision to get a job had made his thought process change and he knew he had to get his head into the game again, otherwise, if he wasn't good to himself he couldn't be a good guardian for Max.

Alec grabbed his laptop and fiercely typed into it, but then changed his mind and retreated back to the safety of Netflix. He sighed at his own meekness and started a film. He had never watched porn before, instead favouring his imagination, and he didn't really want to start now, not when Izzy could walk into the room at any time. He used to lock his door but he couldn't now, having to keep the door ajar so he could hear Max. Alec exhaled deeply and settled into the film instead.

The next morning when Izzy came down Alec asked her if she could look after Max for a few hours that afternoon so he could go and hand out CVs. She agreed but reminded him she had a date that evening so needed to get ready to go by 6pm. Alec gave a quick acknowledgement and continued the finger painting he was doing with Max on the dining room table. Izzy came over to see what they were doing when Max reached for her and got paint down her arm. She squealed and so Max laughed and did it some more. Alec decided to join in, by getting some paint on his hands and wiping it across Izzy's face. She gasped and did the same back to Alec and then wiped the excess paint onto Max's cute little nose. After this all three were laughing and it was the happiest Alec had felt in a long time.

After a shower to get the paint out of his hair and off his face, he was dressed in some smart jeans and a shirt and ready to go out into the world and see if he could get himself a job. He went downstairs to let Izzy know he was leaving and then walked out the front door and towards the main shopping area in town.

It was a successful trip and within a couple of hours he had a few job offers. None of them massively appealed to Alec, two were in clothes stores and one was at McDonalds. He decided he could always try again the next day and if nothing else came to fruition he would decide on one of the clothes stores, he didn't fancy smelling like burgers. He was walking home when he went past a delightful looking coffee shop and went in to get himself a coffee to treat himself for a successful afternoon. Once inside, Alec found he liked the coffee shop even more, it was all dark wood bookcases, cosy tables tucked into corners and it smelled like Heaven. As he was walking up to the counter he saw that the barista was staring at him, Alec didn't really know what to make of this but ordered his coffee and smiled at the guy as he gave him the money. The guy looked Alec up and down, now clearly checking him out and then glanced down at Alec's folder containing his printed CVs on the counter and said "You looking for a job?", Alec looked up and managed to squeak out a "Yea" to the guy who was checking him out just beforehand. "Well we don't have anything advertised but I'm sure I can find you something" the guy almost purred. Alec was reluctant to say yes to the offer, as he didn't really want to lead this guy on but he did really need a job and he liked the feel of the coffee shop so he agreed. After a brief conversation, with some mild flirting from the barista's side, Alec had a new job that he would be starting the following week. He walked out with his coffee and towards home with a slight spring in his step.

Later that evening Alec was sitting on the sofa watching yet again more cartoons with Max when Izzy came downstairs. She looked beautiful and Alec told her so, he was happier with Izzy now that she had offered to look after Max more often. Alec could at least work part time and earn some money for the household whilst also getting some time for himself. Two birds with one stone. He watched Izzy off out the door with her date and then went back to sit down with Max again. After a short while Max was leaning up against Alec half asleep so he took him upstairs and put him to bed.

Alec started the shower up, letting the water get warm, whilst he undressed. He climbed in once his ensuite bathroom had steamed up and put some shower gel on the sponge. As he was washing himself he started thinking about his new job and how the barista was looking him up and down whilst serving him. He swiped the sponge across his stomach and nearly gasped, he had managed to get himself aroused without really realising it, and the slight touch from the back of his hand had him hardening further. He could tell he hadn't had any action in a while, it would usually take a bit more than thinking about some guy looking at him to get him going. Giving into the feeling, Alec grasped his arousal in one hand whilst squeezing the sponge in the other, it had been a long, long time since he had done this and he didn't want it to end too quickly. With gentle stroking and thoughts of the few guys he had found attractive at college he was getting close. He let his head fall back into the spray of water as he started tugging harder, grunting in time with his strokes. A few more tugs and Alec was spurting white fluid against the shower wall. He finished washing himself and then the shower wall to get rid of his mess and got out. He got into bed, feeling relaxed and content and drifted off to sleep easily.

Alec started his new job at The Coffee House the following week and found he rather enjoyed it. Izzy was fine looking after Max so Alec knew he could let go a bit and give himself some time off from thinking solely of Max. He made friends with his colleagues, even Zach the guy that had given him the job and unfortunately continued to see Alec as a piece of meat. Zach was nearly 30, way too old for Alec but Alec wanted to keep his job so he kind of went along with the flirting. At least he didn't ask Zach to stop.

After a shift one day Alec went to a bar down the street with some colleagues. He found himself talking to a girl named Clary who he had quite a few shifts with. They talked about everything - their hobbies (they were both into drawing), what music they were into (a secret Katy Perry obsession) and eventually their families. It was the first time Alec had talked to someone other than Izzy and Jace about his parents death. It felt good to let it out, and get some sympathy. Although he wasn't usually the sympathy seeking type, he hadn't really had any aside from the few kind words at the funeral and it was helping Alec to talk about it. Clary was a great listener and by the end of the night she had Alec laughing almost constantly. Alec was so pleased to have a new friend, he hadn't really kept any of his friends from school and his college was halfway across the country so he couldn't see anyone from there anymore. If Alec thought about it, he had been feeling quite lonely recently, he spent most of his time with Max and although he was great, he couldn't really have a proper conversation just yet. Even then, that conversation would likely be about superheroes or whatever was popular on Disney Junior. Jace would always be there for him, but he was also too far away to see very often, and he didn't want to burden Jace with his problems. He had Izzy of course, and he was thankful for that, but their relationship had been a bit tense recently, only yesterday making minor improvements so he didn't want to jeopardise that by offloading onto her.

When Alec got home, Izzy was sitting on the couch with a grin on her face. He walked over and sat down next to her, glancing at the sheet of paper on her lap. He gestured as if to take it from her and she let him. As he read it a grin slowly appeared on Alec's face too. He gathered Izzy up in a tight hug "I'm so proud of you Iz, you are going to ace this course". Izzy's grin faltered as Alec let her go slowly, so Alec asked what was wrong. She explained that the course was five days a week so she wouldn't be able to look after Max whilst Alec was at work anymore. The course also cost a fair bit of money. Alec pleaded with Izzy to accept the place on the course, he knew her lifelong dream was to be in fashion, and he knew he'd be able to sort out the things which were holding her back.

Alec told Izzy to give him a bit of time to work it out and when they came back together the next evening over dinner he informed Izzy that he had a plan. Alec had called the bank and they had enough of the cash left from their inheritance to pay for the course for Izzy, so far as as Alec was concerned it was settled. Izzy was really excited after that and it made Alec's heart soar to see his sister so enthusiastic about something other than a new pair of shoes.

He had also called a few Daycare centres nearby and found one that had space for Max and wasn't too expensive, so he could still keep his job at the coffee shop. It might have made more sense financially to just stay at home and look after Max but he knew for the sake of his own sanity he needed to continue having that time for himself. He also wanted Max to start socialising with kids his own age so hopefully he would start to grow out of his shyness soon.

Max would be starting Daycare the very next day as that was actually the start of a new term and the Daycare centre recommended he join with a new set of kids so he wouldn't be the only new one. Alec and Izzy tried to explain to Max what would happen at Daycare, he didn't really seem to understand too well but when Izzy mentioned that there would be lots of toys there Max's eyes lit up so Alec didn't feel quite as apprehensive about leaving Max there for a few hours.

Early the next morning Alec had Max dressed and ready to go with his new spiderman backpack. He buckled Max into his car seat and drove off toward the Daycare centre. Alec was waiting at a stop light just before the turning into the Daycare Centre when he glimpsed a man in a car coming out of the parking lot. He had caramel coloured skin and dark hair with green eyes and Alec thought he was the most good looking guy he had ever seen. He was brought out of his staring when the car behind him honked. He took his foot off the brake and pulled into the parking lot, whilst the other car pulled out. Alec tried to get a closer look but it all happened too quickly. He felt a bit deflated that he didn't manage a closer look but realised the time and that he had to get Max in for his induction day.

Max was a bit fussy when Alec dropped him off and cried when Alec started walking out the door. It took one of the nursery nurses engrossing Max in a spiderman colouring book before Alec could sneak out without Max noticing and starting up his crying again. Alec was going to be late for work so he rushed out and drove as quickly as he could to The Coffee House. When he got in he grabbed his apron and tied it round himself quickly and launched himself behind the counter ready for a days work. Clary leaned over and whispered in his ear "What's got you so flustered?" Alec explained about Max going to Daycare now and how he had been upset for a little while before Alec left. Clary asked if that was all that had got him flustered and Alec wondered if she could read his mind for at that moment it had drifted to thoughts of the gorgeous man Alec had seen leaving the Daycare centre. He blushed but told Clary that it was just Max. He hadn't even met the guy properly, and knew nothing about him. He knew he should just forget about it, it's not like now was the best time for him to be looking for anything like that anyhow.

After what felt like a long shift of Alec alternating between worrying about Max and daydreaming of the guy he had seen that morning, Alec told Clary he was leaving to pick up Max and left in more of a hurry than he had been to get there in the morning. After all he had missed his little brother and wanted to pick him up as soon as possible in case Max had gotten upset again and needed him. But that wasn't the only reason he wanted to get to the Daycare centre as soon as possible, although he didn't want to admit it to himself, he was also hoping he might get a better look at the dark haired, dark skinned god he had spotted earlier. Besides, he could look, it didn't mean he had to take it further than that.


	3. Chapter 3

Alec leapt out of his car, ready to go and collect Max, and then realised he needed to calm down and play it cool if this mystery man was somewhere around. He took a deep breath and straightened himself out before walking through the door of the centre. He glanced around the reception but couldn't see anyone there so he wandered into the classroom where he had dropped Max off. He was pleased to see Max sitting on the floor with another boy that looked to be about the same age. They were just pulling funny faces at each other, it was amusing what toddlers deemed to be fun. After a minute or so of watching his little brother with his new friend and a soft smile appearing on Alec's face the same nursery nurse that distracted Max in the morning came up to give Alec the report on Max's day. He had apparently settled in quite quickly and although shy with most of the other children had latched on to the boy he was currently sitting with.

At that moment Max turned around and realised Alec was there and ran up to him, grabbing the bottom of his t-shirt and asking for "up". The other boy had apparently followed and was staring wide eyed up at Alec too. He had caramel skin and dark hair and he was clinging to Max's arm with his tiny hand. Max seemed to realise his manners then and said to Alec "This is Finn". Alec knelt down and said Hi to Finn as Max started talking away about his day and what he had been doing with Finn. Alec was really pleased that he had a good day but he noticed that Max was leaning against him more and more as the chattering went on. Of course, he would be tired after having this much stimulation for the first time, even if it was only 4 hours. It was also pretty much his nap time. He scooped Max up into his arms and told him to say bye to Finn.

Alec was walking out of the classroom door and towards the parking lot as Max started jabbering in his ear again about Finn and their games. He was glancing down at Max to show him he was paying attention when suddenly a curious voice asked "Sorry little man, but did you say Finn?" Max and Alec both looked up startled and then Max hid his head in the crook of Alec's neck. Alec registered the man in front of him and his breath caught in his throat. He had to cough to clear it after realising it was the man he had been daydreaming about. "H-hey, yea he said Finn, why?" Alec managed to stutter out. "Finn is my son, and he's usually really shy so I just wanted to check I heard your little boy correctly" said the mystery man. "Ah, yea, so is Max, as you can see" said Alec, motioning to the fact that Max had turned his head completely away from the stranger and was hiding. "so I'm surprised he made a friend too" Alec continued. "I'm so glad" said the caramel coloured guy and with that he carried on to the classroom and Alec slowly shuffled off to the car. As he reached the door he made the snap decision to turn around "Hey! Erm, hey, I met your little boy but I didn't catch your name?" The golden stranger swivelled round before he entered the classroom and smiled at Alec "Magnus, nice to meet you, and you are?". Alec replied with a soft "Alec" and a blush. "So great to have met you blue eyes" and with that the man called out Finn's name as Alec watched him disappear.

Max was running around like a madman the next morning, saying he wanted to go to and see Finn again. Alec smirked to himself thinking he actually wouldn't mind seeing Finn's dad again. Alec grabbed Max round his middle and threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. Max squealed and then proceeded to hit Alec's back with his little fists, so Alec patted his bum a few times and then let Max down. Max grabbed his hand and dragged him through the front door shouting about Finn again.

Fifteen minutes later they pulled into the parking lot and as soon as Alec unbuckled Max from his car seat and set him on the ground he had sprinted off into Daycare and Alec quickly closed the car door to jog after him. When he got inside Max was already sitting on the floor with Finn. Upon seeing this Alec glanced around to see if Magnus was there too but unfortunately there was no sign of him.

Alec thought to himself 'stop caring, it's not like anything could happen anyway, besides he's got a kid, he's probably married'. Alec called a quick goodbye to Max, seeing that he was already engrossed in something with Finn and walked out. He got to The Coffee House on time that morning and went about his day, finding it a little easier today knowing that Max was happy. It was about three hours into his shift when it was time for his break. He went to take his apron off whilst walking over to the staffroom when someone called his name. He turned round at the call to see Magnus standing just inside the doorway. Alec started walking over to the door as Magnus ambled further into the coffee shop, trying to get passed people. They met in the middle and there was a slight pause as Alec looked at Magnus sort of expectantly but saw that Magnus was actually staring down at Alec's shoes. Alec decided that he would be bold and start the conversation. "Hey Magnus, how are you doing?". "Alec, hey, I was just coming into get a coffee, do you work here?" asked Magnus. "Err, yea, yea. Just part time, it's an in-between job" Alec felt he had to explain. He didn't know why he told a white lie. "Are you on your break?" Magnus questioned. "Yea, just started, but I can make you a coffee if you'd like before I go on my break properly?" Alec offered. "Oh, no, no, no. I was wondering if you wanted to sit down and have a coffee with me? I wasn't hinting that you should make me one" Magnus clarified, whilst looking at Alec's shoes again. He waited for Magnus to look up at him before he said "Uhm, yea, coffee would be great" and gave him his best toothy smile.

At that Alec asked Magnus what he wanted then went to make it behind the counter sneakily, so none of the other customers would bother him. After he made the coffees he looked round to see where Magnus was sitting and eagerly walked over to the table in the corner. He went to pass Magnus his coffee but tripped at the last minute and spilled the cup all over the table and partially over Magnus' lap. Their hands went up to both their mouths, time seeming to stand still, and then after what was only a few seconds Alec started to apologise profusely, at the same time that Magnus burst out laughing. Alec did the first thing he could think of, grabbed a handful of napkins from behind him and started trying to wipe Magnus' trousers to soak up the coffee. Magnus sat there whilst Alec frantically wiped Magnus' crotch area until Magnus grabbed Alec's wrist to stop his motion and said "You might not want to do that, or I'm going to have a situation I'd rather not have in public". Only then did Alec realise what he was doing and quickly withdrew his hand. He blushed a deep tomato red and spun round away from Magnus. He put the used napkins in the bin and was about to turn around to start apologising again, when he felt a hand on his bicep. He looked up to see Magnus, with a smirk on his face "I have to get back to work Alec, but it was good to see you, and maybe I'll see you again this evening at Daycare". "Oh, okay, sure, yea maybe I'll see you around" Alec muttered with embarrassment.

Alec walked off back towards the staffroom for the rest of his break, with a sad look on his face. Clary saw him and followed him into the staffroom, "Why have you got that look on your face?" she queried. "Why wouldn't I have? I just threw coffee all over a gorgeous guy, who is Max's new friend's dad, what if he hates us now? He's just so gorgeous, god I haven't felt this way in a while, and I don't even know if he's gay, he's probably not.. " Alec whined out in one quick breath. He sat down with a huff on a stool and hid his face in his hands. Clary tried to pull Alec's hands away from his face "Are you serious? Alec, look at me". Alec looked up at Clary from his perch on the stool, putting his hands back in his lap. She gave him a light slap around the back of the head and said "Did I mishear when he pretty much said if you didn't stop stroking his lap then he was going to get a hard on?" It was only then that Alec thought back to the encounter more closely. Magnus had said that, but then again he has a kid so why would be he be gay? He made that point to Clary but she slapped him round the head again and told him to stop being an idiot and that people don't just have to like men or women, they can be into both. Alec, once again felt like a moron when he realised that. Clary let him get back to the few remaining minutes of his break and Alec sunk quickly into his own thoughts. Could it be that Magnus was gay or at least bi-sexual? What if Finn wasn't actually Magnus' son? But wait, no, Magnus had already referred to Finn as his son, and Finn looked like a mini me of Magnus, there was no way he wasn't his biological child. Was Magnus still with Finn's mother? Was he off-limits? But then he came back around to Clary's point that Magnus had sort of flirted with him, and he had called him blue eyes the day before. Maybe he was into Alec, like Alec was into him. Scratch that, he had to focus on Max, he didn't have time to be thinking about relationships. But then, he did need to think about his own happiness sometimes.

He had to get back to work but spent the rest of the afternoon mulling over the same thoughts and not once reaching any solid conclusion about anything. As he was leaving, Clary grabbed him by the shoulder and asked what he was doing that evening. He was obviously planning to do what most of his evenings consisted of; cooking fish fingers or chicken nuggets for Max, giving him a bath, watching cartoons for a bit and then putting him to bed and collapsing into his own shortly after because he was exhausted. This isn't what he told Clary though, he gave a simple "nothing" response. With that, she declared that she was going to come with him so she could meet Max as she'd heard so much about him and loved kids. Alec just sort of shrugged and asked her if she wanted to have dinner with them too, with the warning that it would probably just be fish fingers. Clary happily agreed and they went out to the staff parking lot and got into Alec's car together.

Whilst walking into the Daycare centre Alec spied Magnus and walked up to him to apologise for the coffee ordeal again. Magnus immediately put a stop to that and told him to stop being silly and that he had been looking for an excuse to get rid of those trousers he didn't particularly like anyway. Alec laughed awkwardly and just as there was a slightly uncomfortable silence forming Clary walked up behind Alec. Magnus looked over Alec's shoulder with what Alec could only describe as a scowl on his face and then looked back at Alec expectantly. When no introduction came and Alec continued to just stand there not speaking, Magnus asked "And who might this be? Your lovely wife?" Alec's mouth fell open and said "Oh noooo, I am way too young to be married. This is my friend Clary from work". At that, Magnus seemed to stop the scowling. Clary chose this moment to butt in to their conversation and asked bluntly "and you Magnus, are you married?" Alec turned to Clary and whispered at her to shut up but Magnus was already answering the question so he focused on that instead. "Oh no, I'm too young to be married too. Anyway we better go and collect our children." Magnus replied and then started wandering off towards the classroom. Clary pushed Alec to follow and when he turned around to look at her she was just waving her hands in the direction of the classroom and Magnus and whisper-shouting at him to "Go get him Tiger".

Alec ran off quickly hoping that Magnus hadn't seen or heard any of that. It appeared he had not as when Alec entered the classroom he was kneeling down taking part in a game of superheroes with Max and Finn. That made Alec's heart flutter, seeing this gorgeous man, playing with his little brother and Max happily including Magnus, not being scared of him as he was yesterday. Alec went to go and kneel down with the three of them and asked if he could play the game too. He got given a supergirl doll by Finn and muttered "Of course, I get the girl doll" under his breath. Magnus had obviously heard that though and asked "What do you mean by that?" Alec spluttered, not realising he had said that quite so loudly, in fact Magnus must have really good hearing considering there was a lot of background kid noise in the classroom. He decided he may as well just be upfront with Magnus, "Uhm, well, uhm I'm gay... so people often assume I'm into the girly stuff. Not that Finn would have been thinking like that of course because he's only two or three, it was just funny because...err...he did give me that..uhm...maybe I just give off that vibe..." Alec trailed off because Magnus was just staring at him. "You're gay? Really? Because you really don't come across as gay. You haven't responded to any of my flirting, so I came to the conclusion that you weren't." Magnus explained after a while. "Oh, err, yea, yea I am." Alec told Magnus again and stared back at him processing Magnus' words about his flirting.

After a while the embarrassment got too much for Alec so he just picked Max up quickly and scurried out of the classroom. However, he didn't get very far because Clary was standing in his way. "Hey guys, you looked like you were having fun in there. You should totally organise a play date for the boys!" she addressed Alec and also Magnus who had now come to stand next to Alec with Finn in his arms too. Alec just eyed Clary sending her the death glare, but then Magnus turned to Alec and softly said towards the side of Alec's still turned forward face "Yea, yea I would like that."... "and of course I'm sure Finn would too" he added quickly on the end. Alec shifted so he was facing Magnus and with the now common Magnus induced blush he said "Great, yea, uhm, great. That would be great, Max needs to make some proper friends". Clary butted in again with "So... maybe you should exchange numbers, so you can organise one more easily?"

Magnus took his phone out of his pocket, passed it to Alec and asked him to put his number in. Alec did as he was asked and went to pass the phone back to Magnus, their fingers brushing briefly. Magnus looked at Alec again and smiled softly uttering a small "Thanks". Finn started wriggling in Magnus' arms and whining that he wanted to go home, so Magnus let him down and turned towards Alec again. He put a hand on Alec's bicep again and with a light stroke down Alec's arm he said "I'll text you Blue Eyes", grabbed Finn's hand and walked out. Alec couldn't help but stare after them, feeling tingles running down the arm Magnus had just touched, and, if Clary's smack of his other arm was anything to go by, he was caught staring at Magnus' ass for too long as he walked out.

 **A/N:** **I hope you are enjoying this so far. It's my first fanfic, just trying to give myself a creative outlet :)**

 **Review are welcome (constructive too!). Thanks x**


	4. Chapter 4

On the drive home, Alec chastised Clary and asked if that was her ulterior motive all long, to see if she could set up him and Magnus. She vehemently denied it and said she really did just want to meet Max and that setting him and Magnus up was just a bonus, but Alec wasn't convinced. He still hadn't really made up his mind. He was extremely attracted to Magnus but he didn't know anything about the guy still, aside from the fact he wasn't married, had a son and seemingly took pleasure in flirting with Alec. Clary saw him staring off into the distance and not listening to a word she was saying so she said "What's up Alec? Did I go to far with the thing with Magnus?" Alec looked at her and spit out a quick no, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. "So what is it then? Because you look like you're really upset about something" Clary continued to question. "I just don't know if I can do this. I have Max to look after and he has to be my priority. But I'm 19 and I still remember what my life was like before; to just be able to go out whenever I wanted, not have to worry about money or anything. It's so tempting to give into Magnus' flirting but I just don't know if I should. What if Max doesn't like me having someone else around" Alec explained. They were just pulling into the drive when Clary turned to Alec, waited for him to unbuckle his seat belt, put her hand under his chin turning his head towards her, then said really gently "Alec, you are doing your best for Max, look how happy he is. You wouldn't know he'd just lost his parents four months ago. You are doing a great job. I know you think that having a relationship isn't the best thing for you right now, but think about what it would be like to be able to share your life with someone. From what you've told me your parents didn't exactly approve of you being gay, and not that I want to speak badly of them, but maybe now you have a chance to truly find someone who can make you happy, without having to worry about what they might think. Maybe even Max too, don't you think Max would like to have even more people to support him as he grows up?" Alec, looked at Clary properly now, could see that she was being completely serious and replied with "Yea, I guess you're right, maybe." Clary realised that was the best she was going to get at the moment.

It was nice to have someone else play with Max whilst he cooked dinner and caught up on a few chores whilst the fish fingers were in the oven. They had a nice dinner and Clary even offered to read Max his bedtime story which Alec was thankful for. Max had an obsession with a book about a dog that they had read about 10 times in the last two weeks and Alec didn't think he could stand reading that book again.

Alec was chilling on the sofa with a beer when he felt a vibration in his pocket. He opened his phone to see a text message that just said

 **Hey Blue Eyes, this is my number. Magnus x**

Alec spent a good five minutes staring at it until Clary came down from upstairs, proclaimed that Max was asleep and then sat on the sofa next to Alec, who was still staring at his phone. Clary leaned over slightly and tried to get a better look at Alec's phone so she could see what he was looking at but Alec was too quick and shoved his phone back in his pocket before she could see anything. That was obviously highly suspicious behaviour to Clary who then proceeded to grill Alec until he gave in and showed her the text.

Clary had no idea why Alec had tried to hide that, it wasn't like they were sexting or anything. In fact, Alec hadn't even replied seemingly. "Why haven't you replied?" Clary inquired. Alec just lowered his head and mumbled "I don't know what to say". Of course, Clary then wanted to reply to Magnus on Alec's behalf but Alec wouldn't let her as he had already figured out that Clary was a pretty straight to the point kind of person, and didn't really want her to start something he couldn't finish. He suddenly felt very tired at that point, he'd had a full day of work and hadn't had a proper night sleep because Max had had a bad dream and he'd spent half the night trying to console him.

Clary could tell that Alec was tired as he was getting a bit irritable with her pressuring him to reply to Magnus. She decided to call it quits once it got fairly late and left Alec to his own devices to text Magnus back. She hugged Alec goodbye and gave Alec a cheeky smile saying "If you need help with the kinky stuff just let me know". Alec just laughed it off and playfully pushed her out the door when her cab arrived.

Alec got into bed, wrapping himself up in his duvet and thought about everything that Clary had said to him in the car. He still didn't know what the right thing to do was but he didn't have to know just then and sleeping on it might help. The text from Magnus was on his mind though and although it didn't necessarily warrant a response Alec knew he wouldn't be able to sleep unless he had replied. Alec mulled over a few ideas in his head, repeating them over and over until he ended up just getting anxious about it. He settled on a simple response

 **Hi Magnus, thanks for the text. Sorry once again for the coffee incident x**

He had debated for at least 30 seconds about whether to put the kiss on the end or not. He wouldn't usually do that with friends, but Magnus had put one and if he was being honest with himself deep down he knew he didn't want to just be friends with Magnus. Even though he'd only met Magnus yesterday, he already felt such a strong pull towards him, like he wanted to get to know him better and understand him as a person.

 **Alec, will you please stop apologising, otherwise I'll have to come over there and make you! x**

 **Okay, sorry, I'll stop. I promise x**

 **You still said sorry, maybe I'll have to come over there and make you… x**

Alec gasped out loud at that one, it was only now that he recognised this as flirting from Magnus. He really didn't know how to reciprocate properly with this flirting, having only been out and actively trying to date for the last year or so. Once again, Alec decided to play it safe.

 **Not necessary, I've definitely stopped now. But we should arrange a playdate for the boys soon x**

 **Oh I won't forget, don't you worry Blue Eyes. Goodnight x**

With that, Alec went to sleep and dreamt of caramel skin and bright green eyes.

Alec didn't have to work the next day, and he found himself slightly disappointed by that, of course he loved spending time with Max but he also wanted an excuse to see Magnus again. Throughout the day he found himself thinking about Magnus and what it would be like to kiss his full, luscious lips. When Max got annoyed at him for once again not paying attention to the game they were playing, he realised he needed to concentrate on Max. This was exactly what he was talking about, what if a relationship got between him and Max. I mean, Alec knew he would never let that happen but what if he just couldn't dedicate enough time and attention to Max. He was turning 3 early the following month and Alec knew that was when a lot of development would happen. He should start talking properly and being able to feed and sort of dress himself. What if Max fell behind because Alec wasn't dedicating enough time to him? He couldn't let that happen.

Later on that day whilst Alec was cooking and Izzy was playing with Max, he felt a buzz in his pocket.

 **I missed you at Daycare today Blue Eyes x**

Alec blushed slightly with a small smile on his face and messaged back

 **Didn't have to work today, so spent the day with Max :) x**

 **Oh lovely, you have a gorgeous son, did you do anything special? X**

Alec inhaled quickly upon reading that. He realised he'd never explained to Magnus about his circumstances. Max did look like him, so him being his son was probably the conclusion most people would come to in the Daycare situation. No wonder Magnus thought he wasn't gay, if he had a son, of course it would appear that he was in fact straight. Like Alec himself had assumed with Magnus. Alec decided that if he was viewing Magnus as a possible relationship prospect, even if he wasn't sure on that yet, he should clear the air from the beginning.

 **Max isn't my son, he's my little brother...my parents died recently so I adopted him. Nothing special but had a good day, thanks for asking x**

Alec didn't hear anything back for a few minutes so resumed with the cooking. He was getting worried maybe he'd scared Magnus off somehow. Deciding to put it out of his mind, he plated up the food and called Izzy and Max to the table.

Izzy's course hadn't started yet, so she had been helping more around the house and with Max, she was currently cutting up Max's food and putting it on a fork for him. As Alec was eating himself he felt another buzz in his pocket.

 **I'm so sorry to hear that Alec. If you need any parenting tips, I've had Finn on my own since he was born so I'd like to think I'm okay at it x**

Alec smiled at that, he had barely spoken to the man and he was being so kind to him. Alec thought about his situation and realised that Magnus would actually be the perfect person to try a relationship with. He was older than Alec he assumed, so concluded that hopefully Magnus wouldn't be a jerk like half the other guys he had been on dates with before, he had a son so could be trusted around Max, he was so far really genuine and to top it all off he was Alec's idea of sex on legs. As Alec was coming to this conclusion, Izzy had looked up and spotted a grin on his face. "What's got you so happy?" she inquired. "Oh, uhm, nothing, just one of the dad's at Max's Daycare offering to have a playdate" he made up on the spot, it wasn't so far from the truth, I mean Alec assumed that's what Magnus was going to do eventually. "A playdate for Max or a playdate for you?" Izzy asked with an eyebrow raised. "Max! Obviously...not that I wouldn't mind a playdate myself…"Alec trailed off whilst trying not to giggle. He was done trying to deny it to himself, he really liked Magnus.

Izzy just laughed at him, told him he was cute, ruffled his hair and then walked off after finishing feeding Max and eating her own dinner. Alec was left at the table chuckling to himself. Max was hitting his fork on the tray of his highchair and demanded pudding so Alec got up and went to the fridge to get a pot of jelly out and set it down in front of Max. He took the lid off and put the spoon in the pot and left Max to his own devices with the jelly, even if he did just use his hands. He already had beans down his front, some jelly wouldn't make much difference.

Alec sat down next to Max but far enough away that he wouldn't be in the firing line of stray jelly and got his phone out again, he decided that he wouldn't consciously stop himself from flirting with Magnus, he would just go with the flow and see what happened.

 **Thanks Magnus. That sounds great, perhaps we should start with that playdate Clary mentioned? X**

He got a reply straight away **No problem Blue Eyes. Yes a playdate sounds good. This weekend? X**

 **Saturday? My place or yours? I'll have to put Max down for a nap early afternoon, so could we do around 3? X**

 **Saturday it is. Finn has to nap too but we could try to put them both down at the same time at my place and then you and I can have lunch together. I'll even make something from scratch for you... x**

Alec didn't know what Max would be like trying to sleep somewhere unfamiliar and he didn't want to have to deal with a cranky toddler but he did really want to spend some time with Magnus getting to know him better.

 **Okay, you've sold it to me. I'll see you at 12.30 on Saturday? Text me your address before then? X**

 **Sure, Blue Eyes, see you then. Looking forward to it x**

Alec almost fell off his chair with how giddy he felt. He sort of had a date with Magnus, I mean not a proper one but he did say that he wanted to spend time with you, Alec thought. Alec didn't have a full day shift for the rest of the week so Max didn't need to go to Daycare, as Izzy could just look after him for a few hours. Alec was debating putting Max in Daycare just so he could see Magnus before Saturday but it wasn't necessary and he didn't want to waste the money. Alec sulked a little bit at that thought but realised that Saturday was only a few days away and he felt his heart beat a little faster.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews so far. Please do keep them coming :) This story is a bit of a slow burner, I want to keep it true to how I feel Alec would approach this situation so please do keep reading. The fluff is here and lemons will come when they are called for!**

* * *

Saturday morning Alec woke up naturally and smiled as he stretched. Then immediately worried about Max as he glanced at his clock and realised it was nearly 8am and this was way past Max's normal waking up time. He got up swiftly out of bed and stuck his head round the door to Max's room. There was no reason for his worry. Max was just sitting up in his cot, with a book open, making up his own story seemingly as he couldn't read yet, but was babbling away to himself.

With that Alec decided to go back to bed for a bit. He was going to take the lie in if Max was willing to give it to him. He tossed and turned for a while trying to get back to sleep but he was too jittery about the day ahead to manage. He hadn't seen or spoken to Magnus since Wednesday and that made him feel a bit apprehensive about the playdate. Alec knew that it was ultimately a playdate for Max and Finn but he couldn't stop himself from feeling a little nervous about it. After all, if Max and Finn did nap at the same time he would probably have a couple of hours alone with Magnus.

Giving up on his lie in he went to check on Max again who was still happily playing in his cot, so Alec decided that he would take a shower. When he was in the shower he couldn't stop himself from imagining what his time with Magnus might be like later. Alec had a very active imagine sometimes and only a few minutes later he realised he would have to finish up the shower cold. He thought about using his hand again, but Izzy was in and Max might need him for some reason or just decide he wanted to get out of his cot and start screaming. He didn't want to start something he couldn't finish and also he didn't really want to go to Magnus' later with that memory in his head, otherwise he knew he'd just end up blushing massively if he thought about it in front of Magnus.

Deciding what clothes to wear was the next task on Alec's list. He didn't really have a clue so he just put some normal casual clothes on, straight legged dark jeans and a slightly worn t-shirt and went to get Max out of his cot.

They went downstairs for some breakfast and after that sat on the sofa with the tv on. They had just started watching the spiderman animated series when Alec got a text.

 **Hey Blue Eyes, my address is 1205 Lincoln Avenue. See you soon x**

Izzy suddenly whispered in his ear "Blue Eyes? I thought this was just a play date for Max?" and then sat down next to Alec on the sofa with a smirk on her face. Alec blushed and stuttered out "Y-yea, it is. He's just given me a nickname, it doesn't mean anything". "Are you kidding me Alec? You don't call someone Blue Eyes unless you're into them." Izzy challenged. "Do you think so?" Alec asked rather unsurely. All of a sudden Izzy grabbed Alec's hand, told Max to stay on the sofa and tugged Alec up the stairs to his room. She knew her brother, although he was trying not to let it show he was nervous about this playdate and was more keen on this guy than he was letting on. She delved into his wardrobe and brought out some black jeans she had bought Alec last Christmas but she hadn't ever seen him wear and a long sleeved v-necked top. "Wear these instead" she demanded whilst throwing the clothes at Alec. She walked out the room and called behind her "I'll keep an eye on Max, you change and do something with your mop head."

A couple of hours later, Izzy was putting Max's favourite dog teddy in his spiderman backpack and wiping non-existent fluff off Alec's shoulders. Alec pushed Izzy's hand off him, reached down for Max's little hand instead and then opened the door. "Good luck big brother!" Izzy called out as the door shut behind them.

Magnus' house was easy to find, being only 10 minutes from Alec's and a few straight roads. It was a modern but small house which stood out from the rest of the street, as it was so rectangular and colourful. Alec got Max out of the car and gave him his backpack to hold, locked the car and walked up to the front door to ring the bell.

It didn't take long for Magnus to come to the door and open it with what Alec could only describe as a flourish. Magnus put his hand on Alec's shoulder and ushered him and Max in. Finn came up and grabbed Max's hand pulling him into the next room, leaving Magnus and Alec awkwardly staring at each other. Alec rubbed the back of his neck and looked more closely at Magnus. He was much more casually dressed than he had seen him before. He assumed he was usually in his work attire during the week which consisted of smart trousers and a shirt but today he had on some ripped soft blue skinny jeans which revealed delicious patches of caramel skin and a green tight fitting t-shirt. Alec trailed his eyes up Magnus' body all the way to his face and realised the green of Magnus' t-shirt nearly matched his eyes.

"See something you like Blue Eyes?" Magnus purred whilst his hand rose up to the collar of Alec's leather jacket. "Uhh, I was just thinking you look so different not in your work clothes". Alec managed to get out. A small tremble ran down Alec's back from the back of Magnus' hand brushing lightly against his neck as he helped Alec take his jacket off, so he grabbed the other side of his collar and shrugged out of it leaving it hanging from Magnus' hand. Magnus hung his coat on the peg next to the door and turned back to Alec. Magnus then took his own turn to appraise Alec, seemingly focusing on Alec's chest. It was then that Alec remembered he had a v-neck top on and his chest hair was probably showing. Magnus licked his bottom lip, then said "Let's go check on the boys, then I'll get you a drink."

The boys were happily playing together on the floor of the living room so Magnus led Alec through to the kitchen and asked him what he wanted to drink. He had to drive so he accepted a soda. Their fingers brushed and Alec really felt it this time. He couldn't deny it anymore, he wanted Magnus. In admitting this to himself, Alec started up a conversation, "So this house is pretty different, what made you choose it?" Magnus chuckled out "Ah, actually I didn't choose it, I designed it. I'm an architect." Alec was impressed, and he told Magnus so "Oh wow, I'm impressed. Don't you have to study for years to do that?" "Yea, I'm doing a placement year at Marsden Brown Associates, I've still got another year left after that before I do my exams and then I'm fully qualified." Magnus explained.

Magnus grabbed himself a soda out of the fridge too and then walked back through to the living room. They spent a few minutes playing with the boys watching Max introduce Finn to his dog teddy named Woof. Magnus laughed at the originality and Alec admitted it hadn't occurred to him, he'd just been used to it since Max was a baby and the family was trying to teach him animal sounds, so the dog had automatically been named Woof. Magnus put his hand on Alec's knee after Alec had told that story and said a quiet "I'm so sorry about your parents". Alec hadn't really thought that the story would sound so pity worthy, and he didn't want to ruin his time with Magnus by bringing the mood down, so he gently put his hand over Magnus' and thanked him, then moved onto a lighter topic. "So how old is Finn?" drawing his hand away as he asked. "He turned 3 in October, and he's been telling everybody that asks how old he is about it" Magnus chuckled, remembering when Finn had told the mailman earlier that morning. He was a strange kid; when he wanted to be talkative he would be, but when forced into social situations he became shy and quiet.

"Max is turning 3 in a few weeks and I know I should do something to celebrate it but I have no idea what. We would usually just have a family dinner but my other brother is back at college, so it would just be me and my younger sister and it seems a shame now Max is in Daycare not to try and have something involving some kids. What did you do for Finn's birthday?" Alec asked. "Well Finn used to go to my mum's before he started Daycare and she gets him to play with some of the other kids in her neighbourhood, so we had a few of them over to my mum's one day for a party with cake and party bags and games. He loved it. Maybe you could do something similar for Max? It doesn't have to be long or with loads of kids." Alec nodded at that, thinking it would be good to do something similar.

Finn chose that moment to shuffle over to Magnus on his bum and whine that he was tired. Alec went over to Max and asked if he was too, but he just shrugged so Alec tried a different tactic "Finn is going for a nap so I bet if you asked him nicely you could read one of his story books". Max's little face lit up at that and he went over to Finn to ask. Magnus responded on Finn's behalf "I will gladly read you and Finn a story Max, why don't we go up to Finn's room and pick one".

Magnus picked Finn up and walked towards the stairs so Alec followed and helped Max up the unfamiliar stairs. When they got to Finn's room Alec realised that he had a proper bed and Magnus was making room for Max to top and tail with him. Max hadn't yet slept in a proper bed but maybe this was something he should be thinking about. He didn't know when kids were meant to start in a normal bed. Alec noticed there was a pull up bed guard thing to stop them from rolling out onto the floor so he wasn't too worried.

Alec helped Max into the bed and pulled the blanket up over him, then went to sit down against the wall by the door. Magnus gave the boys a few options of what story they could have. There was a yell for the Hungry Caterpillar and so Magnus settled cross legged on the floor next to the bed so both boys could see and started to read. Alec was gazing over at Magnus and watching him read to the boys and thought once again, how perfect Magnus might be for them. Not even five minutes later both boys were spark out with their mouths open snoring softly. Magnus got up quietly and tip toed over to Alec. He held his hand out to Alec offering to help him up off the floor. Alec eyed the hand for a few seconds but then took it. Magnus gave it a sharp tug and then Alec was on his feet almost nose to nose with Magnus, their breath mingling, hands still linked. Alec looked down at Magnus' lips, the ones he'd been daydreaming about kissing, but lost his nerve and leaned back against the wall away from Magnus, removing his hand from his grasp. He cleared his throat, opened the door next to him and hurried out.

Magnus joined him downstairs shortly after and asked Alec if he wanted another drink. He was obviously choosing to ignore the moment upstairs and not make it into something awkward so Alec tried to do the same. Alec asked for another soda and wandered into the kitchen after Magnus to retrieve it. Magnus got out some other stuff from the fridge and put it on the worktop next to him. Alec was intrigued, it was all in tupperware boxes so he couldn't see what it was. Magnus noticed Alec trying to peer round him to see, so said "I thought I'd do Cobb salad, is that okay?" "I actually don't know what exactly is in Cobb salad but I'm sure it's great" Alec responded.

Magnus shuffled to the left a bit to get a knife out of the draw, so Alec retreated to the other side of the kitchen and leaned against the worktop. He watched Magnus pull a chopping board out of a cupboard and then start to chop the lettuce. His eyes were trained on Magnus' back, his physique obvious due to the tight fitting t-shirt, as the muscles in his lower back rippled as he made the cutting motion. They moved to Magnus' biceps which were straining against the sleeves, Alec was practically drooling as Magnus turned around. "Can you just grab me a big bowl out of that top cupboard please Blue Eyes?"

Magnus could totally have reached that himself, considering he was a bit taller than Alec, but he extended his arm up to the top shelf and went to grab the bowl. "What happened there?" Magnus had the tips of his fingers on Alec's lower back, just above his waistband, where his top had ridden up. Alec hadn't even realised Magnus was behind him, but twisted round to see what Magnus was looking at. "Oh, that scar. I did archery as a kid with Jace, my brother, and he got annoyed at me one day and aimed his arrow at me. It narrowly missed me and skidded off my back." Magnus' fingers hadn't left Alec's back, in fact they were now stroking across the scar. Alec swallowed deeply, and placed the bowl on the worktop. Magnus withdrew his fingers as Alec's top fell back down. He took the bowl from the worktop over to the other side of the kitchen and proceeded to pile the lettuce he had just cut into the bowl. "I bet your parents were furious". Alec shrugged then realised Magnus couldn't see that. "I didn't tell them. Jace had only just moved in with us after his dad had died, so I didn't want him to get in trouble. I figured he was probably just lashing out because of that. That's probably why it scarred because I didn't go to the hospital and have stitches or anything. I just wrapped it in bandages and waited for it to heal by itself." Magnus had resumed his chopping and Alec moved up to stand beside him. "Can I help?" Alec offered.

"Oh, don't worry it doesn't take much to chop everything up for the salad. I did get some nice bread to go with it though, that's in the bread bin just over there if you want to get that out." He pointed with his free hand. Alec wandered off over to the container, got the bread out and brought it back over to Magnus, who just took it out of Alec's hand and put it on the tray next to the salad bowl. Once again, Alec felt at a bit of a loss as to how to help so he just sort of stood there and watched Magnus. This didn't seem to bother Magnus who continued to chop, moving on to the avocado now.

"So Jace isn't actually your brother? Is he related to you at all?" Magnus' voice rose in question towards the end. "No we're not actually related, his dad was best friends with mine, and Jace and I were best friends too so my parents took him in as he didn't have any other family." Alec explained. "Oh right that's good, at least, you didn't lose your best friend". Alec was thankful for that.

Magnus declared that lunch was served and laid the tray down on the small table in the kitchen. They sat down at the table, sitting opposite each other and Magnus started serving up the salad onto a plate and set it down in front of Alec "Help yourself to bread, you can just tear some off" Magnus added. The salad looked delicious so Alec dug in. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" Alec almost moaned through his mouthful of food. "Ah, good, I make it quite a lot because it's quick and easy" Magnus responded.

The men sat in a comfortable silence whilst they ate their lunch, but once Alec had nearly finished he remembered he wanted to ask Magnus something "Can I ask you a parenting question please?" he looked up at Magnus to see his reaction. "Of course, I wasn't joking when I said I could provide parenting tips". Magnus looked quite proud of himself so Alec asked away "I saw that Finn is in a bed, not in a cot anymore. Is there an age that's meant to happen, or when they reach a certain height or something? It's just that Max is still in his cot but now I think about it, when he is stretched out he does almost reach the ends". "Finn's only been in a bed for a few months. His is actually converted from his old cot, a lot of them do that. You should check Max's to see if it does. I think you will probably just have to get a different mattress and a bed guard." Magnus suggested.

Alec looked down, he suddenly felt quite daunted at the parenting thing, he really had no idea what he was doing, even something so simple as when to put Max in a bigger bed. Magnus could obviously tell that Alec suddenly looked a bit subdued. "Do you want me to come round and see? It wasn't that obvious with Finn's, I had to get the instructions out, but I assume it should be similar for Max's if it does convert". Alec thought about it, he would actually really find Magnus' help with this invaluable. "Would you mind? I don't want to impose but that really would help me out" Alec almost pleaded. "Of course I don't mind, I wouldn't have offered in the first place if I didn't mean it. Besides, I was looking for another reason to see you again". With that, Magnus gave a wink to Alec, got up and started clearing the plates into the dishwasher, leaving Alec with scarlet cheeks at the table.

Magnus suggested for Alec to take a seat on the sofa again and that he would join him when he'd finished loading the dishwasher. Alec had just about sat down when Magnus plopped down beside him, somewhat closer than they had earlier when the kids were about. Not really knowing what to do in this situation, Alec just stayed where he was. He didn't want to offend Magnus by moving halfway across the sofa from him, and if Alec was honest with himself, he was rather enjoying the brushing of his thigh against Magnus' every so often as they talked. They were just talking about Alec's brief stint at college, and how Magnus had had to change to a distance learning course when Finn came along, when they heard tiny voices calling down the stairs. They went to collect the boys and then proceeded to put a Disney film on whilst the boys clambered over them on the sofa.

It was overall a very likeable afternoon and Alec felt like maybe this showed he could care for Max and still have adult company at the same time. At least in the form of playdates. Perhaps he wasn't going to just be restricted to cartoons and chicken nuggets. After the Disney film, Alec thought they had better go home so he could get Max fed, bathed and in bed on time, even though he was rather reluctant to leave. Max was having fun, he was having fun, but he knew he needed to keep Max in a routine. He picked Max up from where he was strewn halfway across his lap, threw him lightly into the air then set him down on his feet with a chuckle. Finn saw this and shouted that he wanted a go so Alec had to do the same with Finn, then Max again, then Finn again until Magnus told Finn to stop because Alec and Max had to get home.

Magnus led them both to the door, Alec helped Max with his shoes and then stood up to collect his jacket off the hook and slipped it on. "It was so lovely to have you guys over, Finn really seemed to enjoy himself. I'm so glad he's made Max as a friend." Magnus said as he opened the door. Finn reached over and gave Max a hug. Alec and Magnus looked at each other with similar 'oh my god they're adorable' looks. "Yea, it's really good for Max to socialise more too, my parents didn't really let him be around other kids so I want to give him that. Thanks so much for having us"... "Say thank you to Finn for sharing his toys with you Max." Alec looked down expectantly at Max. "Thank you Finn" Max said quietly to Finn.

Alec took Max's hand then and started to lead him out the door as Magnus said a final "See you later Blue Eyes" in Alec's ear. Alec just shook his head and chuckled at that as he walked down the drive. Maybe it wasn't just some nickname after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Pulling into Daycare Alec could see Magnus' car was parked outside. He rushed in with Max, hoping to be able to chat with Magnus for a bit before he had to leave for work. In his rush he nearly walked into the man himself as he walked through the door. "Oh, gosh sorry" Magnus started and retreated slowly before he looked up to see who he had walked into. Upon realising that it was Alec, he stopped his retreat and instead put his hand on Alec's bicep again with a light squeeze. "Hey Alec, how are you? And you little man Max?" He added on the end whilst looking fondly down at Max and dropping his hand to his side.

Max just smiled at Magnus and Alec did the same until Magnus looked up again at him. "Will you be at work all day today?" Magnus asked. Alec nodded his head so Magnus continued "Cool, I was planning to come in over lunch again today. What time is your break usually?" Alec's face flushed at that, realising that Magnus might want to have coffee with him again, and relived the last time. "Well if I start at 8.30, I usually have break about 12.30" Alec answered. "Great, it's a date. Anyway I must get to work, I'm meant to start at 8, so I'm running a bit late!" Magnus called as he scurried off round Alec.

That took a while to sink in for Alec as he walked Max into the classroom. A date? Is that what Magnus just referred to it as? Alec decided to just put it to the back of his mind for now, he had to get Max settled into Daycare and then get to work himself.

It was after the second time that morning that Alec had let the filter coffee overflow from the cup that Clary took it from him, put the lid on then gave it to the customer and asked Alec what was going on with him and why he was so spaced out today. "Uhm, well I think I have a lunch date with Magnus." Clary squealed out a high pitched noise and pulled him off to the side. "Tell me EVERYTHING" she demanded. He told her about the playdate over the weekend and Magnus' touchy feeliness and how he had basically told him this morning he was coming in for coffee again and it was a date. "He is SO into you" Clary screeched whilst trying not to shout so the customers wouldn't hear her. "He's probably not, maybe he's just that sort of guy. Some men are just naturally charming, and being touchy feely and flirty comes with that. And they use the word 'date' very loosely". Alec reasoned. "Look Alec, maybe you're right, but you owe it to yourself to see where this goes. If he's referring to it as a date then maybe he wants it to be just that." Clary challenged.

Zach came out of the staffroom right next to them and gave them a scrutinising look as if seeing if there was any reason why they weren't serving customers or wiping tables down. Clary immediately made herself look busy and Alec strode off over to a table and started rearranging sugar packets into colour order and that was the end of that conversation. He was thankful for that, he didn't really want Clary examining his love life.

Alec hadn't so far felt like he had watched the clock at work, usually enjoying his job, but found himself glancing up every few seconds once it neared 12.30. He tried to busy himself but couldn't concentrate on anything. 12.30 came and went and the closer it got to 12.40, the more disappointed Alec felt. Maybe Magnus had a better offer for lunch, or maybe he just forgot he'd said to Alec that he would meet him. As it neared 12.45 Alec decided that he had better just take his break anyway, otherwise he wouldn't be able to take one soon as it would overlap with Clary's. He took his apron off over his head, struggling to get it over the collar of his shirt and eventually just tugging it off roughly. He scrunched it into his hands, taking his disappointment out on it.

"What did that apron ever do to you?" Alec recognised that smooth voice and looked up with a grin on his face. "Ha, uhm, nothing.." he responded quietly. "Sorry I'm late, my meeting ran over. Are you still okay to have a quick lunch?" Magnus almost pleaded. "No worries, I can definitely still do lunch" Alec replied quickly. "It's quite a nice day today, I thought maybe we could get a sandwich and coffee to go and take a walk round the park just down the street, if you can get out for that long". Magnus agreed, ordered a coffee and sandwich to go then said "Ready to go Blue Eyes?" Alec just smiled at Magnus and led him out of the small coffee shop and into the bright, sunny day that awaited.

They walked along the street in a comfortable silence until they came to a crossing and Alec looked at Magnus to see he had his eyes closed and was basking in the sunlight. "It's nice to have a sunny day isn't it, even if it is getting colder now" Alec murmured whilst watching Magnus' eyes open and look over to him. "Yea, I love the sun. Anyway how was your morning gorgeous?" That nickname was new Alec thought. It was one of opinion, unlike Blue Eyes which was one of fact. As they entered the park he answered Magnus "It was okay, I managed to spill some more coffee again. I don't know how my boss hasn't fired me already" ending with a small chuckle. "Maybe he just wants some eye candy to look at" Magnus suggested, laughing to himself. Alec wondered if Magnus had witnessed the first time Alec met Zach, as that did seem to be the only reason he got the job.

The sun was strong today, and after a while Magnus took his coat off, slung it over his arm and continued to stroll along beside Alec. Alec noticed the shirt Magnus was wearing which was a deep purple. In a moment of boldness Alec decided to pay Magnus a compliment too, given he had already dished out a couple for Alec; "Your, uhm, shirt is really nice..it, uhm, makes your eyes look really vibrant." Alec internally squirmed at that, he sounded so stupid!

"Aww, thanks Blue Eyes, no one's ever said that before". They continued their stroll through the park as they sipped at their still warm coffees. "So do you think you could come over one evening this week and take a look at Max's cot?" Alec asked hopefully. "Sure, I'll see if my mum can look after Finn one evening". "Oh, you don't have to do that, you can just pop over after Daycare pick up and take a quick look" Alec urged.

"Ah, I've got a project to finish at work by the end of this week so I'm going to be working late a few nights, so I might not be able to do that early." Magnus explained. "Oh, well we can postpone until next week if that's easier" Alec suggested. "Don't be silly, my mum will be happy to look after Finn for a night, she doesn't mind and she doesn't get to see him nearly as much now he's in Daycare." Alec reluctantly agreed, he really didn't want to put Magnus out, but the thought of having him over once Max was asleep and Izzy was probably out with one of her friends or latest love interest did appeal to him. Perhaps he'd even get a bottle of wine in.

It was getting close to 1.30 now and Alec's break would end shortly, so he and Magnus walked back in the direction of The Coffee House. Magnus dropped Alec off and before Alec could realise what was happening leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, then whispered "Later Blue Eyes" and sauntered off down the street. Alec's hand was still lingering on his cheek as he wandered back over to the counter. Clary just looked at him with a grin and said "Now tell me that wasn't a date" and tossed Alec's apron at him as she left for her break.

Later that evening after Alec had put Max down, he was in bed just watching a new series on Netflix when his phone buzzed. A small smile appeared on his face as he saw the name on the message.

 **Hey Gorgeous, I really enjoyed our walk today. When is good for me to come over this week? x**

Alec sighed and brought the duvet up to his chest at the pet name of Gorgeous again, then chastised himself for being like a love sick teenage girl.

 **I don't really mind, I'm going to an art class with Clary on Thursday but any other day is good x**

 **How about Wednesday? I might have to work really late on Friday if I haven't finished this project and I don't want to have to bail on you at the last minute x**

 **Wednesday is perfect. Maybe I'll even try and reciprocate with the home cooked food x**

 **Sounds wonderful Blue Eyes, I'll come over around 8. Goodnight x**

 **Goodnight :) x**

Alec struggled to get to sleep that night, playing his lunch date with Magnus over and over in his head, analysing everything that Magnus said and did. He really was like a love sick teenager.

Wednesday evening came around really quickly. Alec hadn't seen Magnus since Monday, although he had seen a dark haired woman helping Finn into a car yesterday at Daycare pick up time and assumed that was Magnus' mum. He hadn't introduced himself because he was a little late to pick Max up and didn't want him to worry. Alec figured that Magnus really was working past Daycare pick up time to finish this project at work. He resolved to make sure that Magnus managed to relax when he came over that evening.

It turned out that Izzy did indeed have plans with her friends from school that evening but she offered to put Max down before she went. Alec reminded her that he needed to sleep in Alec's bed so he could take a look at his cot. After Izzy left, Alec checked the lasagne he had already placed in the oven a few minutes earlier, before he went to take a quick shower. Whilst showering Alec thought to himself what he actually wanted to come of his evening with Magnus. He wasn't really sure what he wanted. He was at least believing now that maybe Magnus was into him, after the kiss he had received on the cheek earlier in the week.

He jumped out of the shower, quickly chucking the clothes on that Izzy had seemingly hung up for him when she had put Max down. Once again, some slim fitting dark jeans and a white linen shirt that showed off Alec's well built chest. A couple of minutes later the doorbell rang and Alec bounded down the stairs to answer the door. He let Magnus in, offering to take his coat and asked him how his project was going. They made small talk whilst Alec grated some cheese and put it on top of the lasagne to melt.

"Do you want a drink? I have a beer, or we can open a bottle of wine?" Alec opened the fridge, ready to take out whatever Magnus wanted. "I could have a glass of wine I suppose" Magnus said. Alec poured two glasses of wine, handing one to Magnus before taking a couple of glugs of his own. Liquid courage n all.

The small talk continued, with Magnus explaining to Alec what his project at work was for, until the oven timer sounded and Alec put the oven mitts on and retrieved the lasagne. "That smells amazing Blue Eyes, I'm absolutely starving too. This project means I'm having to skip lunch half the time." Alec put the lasagne down on the table and offered Magnus more wine even though his glass was still nearly full. He accepted but said that would have to be all as he was driving. Alec topped his own glass up, after seeing it was virtually empty. He sat down next to Magnus at the table and served some lasagne for Magnus and then himself.

After dinner, and another glass of wine later, Alec stumbled slightly over to the sofa, grabbing Magnus' hand along the way. He sat down in the middle of the sofa and pulled Magnus down with him, nearly landing on Alec's lap. The conversation flowed freely and Alec was definitely feeling the effects of the wine now, given that he was on his third glass. Another hour passed and then Magnus reminded Alec the purpose of his visit, that he needed to look at Max's cot.

The men got up and went upstairs, Alec somewhat unsteadily, and into Max's room. Magnus looked at the cot and asked Alec for a screwdriver. It didn't take long for Alec to find one and he returned to Max's room and passed it to Magnus. Magnus seemed to know what he was doing so Alec sat down with his back against the wall of Max's room just watching Magnus at work. There was something about a man who knew what he was doing with a screwdriver.

Within twenty minutes Alec was slouched down along the floor on his side, elbow bent and head resting on his hand still watching Magnus. Magnus had just about finished assembling the bed when Alec let out a slightly slurred "You have a great ass" causing Magnus to turn round to gawk down at Alec. Alec's liquid induced courage didn't end there. He seized Magnus' hand and pulled him down to the floor with him. Magnus fell slightly on top of him and Alec put both arms around Magnus' waist to try to steady him.

Magnus stared down at Alec and cleared his throat lightly, but didn't move an inch, he knew Alec was a little tipsy and wanted to give him chance to back out of what he was doing. Alec's right arm slipped from around Magnus' waist, as his elbow fell down to the floor, instead his hand latching onto Magnus' hip. He looked up at Magnus, their eyes met and Alec felt Magnus' hot breath against his mouth. Alec swallowed deeply, blinked a couple of times and then surged his head forward for his lips to meet Magnus'.

It didn't take long for Magnus to respond. Their lips moved softly together, as Alec's hand subconsciously rubbed small circles into Magnus' hip. Magnus shifted slightly so he could put all his weight onto one arm without leaning fully on Alec and brought one hand up to rest against Alec's neck rubbing his thumb along Alec's jawline. The kiss heated up as Magnus started to kiss Alec more urgently. He moved his hand fully behind Alec's neck and tangled his hand in the bottom of Alec's hair. With this Alec reached his hand under the hem of Magnus' top and continued with his small circles. Magnus' mouth opened with a soft gasp as Alec touched his skin and Magnus tugged lightly on Alec's hair in response. Alec almost growled and pushed his tongue hungrily into Magnus' willing mouth. When their tongues met the kiss really caught fire. Alec stopped his soft circles and gripped Magnus' hip more strongly and in turn Magnus rolled his hips down into Alec's upper thigh.

Magnus' arousal was pretty evident by this point and it didn't go unnoticed to Alec who rolled them over so he was on top and ground his own erection into Magnus' crotch. Their tongues battled for control until they needed air and Magnus moved to kiss down Alec's jaw and neck, whilst running his hand up Alec's velvet soft back under his shirt. Magnus continued his path down Alec's neck until his shirt collar was in the way.

His hands came away from Alec's back and reached round the front to the first button of Alec's shirt, undoing the top two, but struggling to get any further until Alec sat up, now straddling Magnus. He followed him, using his core to keep him up and continued unbuttoning until the last one was undone then moved to pulled away one side of Alec's shirt and started sucking on Alec's collarbone wanting to leave a mark. Alec let out a low moan which only spurred Magnus on more. He moved his hand slowly down Alec's abs to his belt buckle and started to undo it, when suddenly Alec pushed Magnus away from him, launched himself up to standing then ran to his room and closed the door.

In the commotion Magnus had ended up flat on his back on the floor, and upon realising what he had done, ran his hands through his hair shakily. He knew Alec was still quite young, and his parents had only just died for god's sake, he shouldn't be pressuring him into anything right now.

After a couple of minutes he pushed himself off the floor and padded softly over to the door to Alec's room. "Alec, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it that far." he called through the door. After he didn't hear any response he tried again. "Alec, please, I really am sorry, can you let me in so we can talk?"

He waited again, listening out for any sounds of movement behind the door. When he still didn't hear anything he turned round and slid down the door until he was sitting on the carpet of the hallway. "Please Blue Eyes." he called once again.

Still nothing. He tried again, pleading a few more times but after sitting there for fifteen minutes he didn't think he was going to get anywhere as Alec clearly didn't want to talk to him. He got up and walked slowly down the stairs hoping to hear signs of Alec opening his door as he realised Magnus was leaving but nothing came. He grabbed his coat from the rack, took one last look up the stairs and then let himself out, with a sad sigh falling from his lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews/followers/favourites so far! It means a lot! Also I am very sorry...**

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Alec heard the front door close, gave it a few seconds and then poked his head out into the hallway to see if he could hear any noise. The only noise he could hear was Max's soft breathing from the bed behind him so he crept out so as not to wake Max and went downstairs. He walked immediately over to the fridge to retrieve the pretty much empty bottle of white wine and finished it straight from the bottle.

Just as he put the now completely empty bottle down Izzy walked in. He pivoted quickly on his heel to check that it somehow wasn't Magnus managing to get back in which made him lose his balance quite easily, given his current state. He stumbled back against the kitchen worktop and bashed his head on the handle to the overhead cupboard. Izzy saw this, clacked over to him in her high heels, and said "Wow, I've not seen you like this in a while". At this Alec let the tears he'd been holding in roll down his cheeks. Izzy immediately circled her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest and asked what was wrong. Alec cleared his throat and took a deep breath determined to partially compose himself so he could at least try to be convincing when he told Izzy he'd just hit his head and it hurt. Izzy took a step back at this and really looked at him, giving him a thorough check over.

"Yea, yea, sure. I haven't seen you cry with pain since I was five. Now what's really going on? Did something happen on your date?" Izzy pried. Alec really didn't want to talk about it. He didn't think he could without having a proper breakdown. So he just shrugged, wiped the tears from his face and proceeded to get a spoon from the drawer and dig into the lasagne. Hopefully if he had some more food his hangover wouldn't be so bad tomorrow. He could drink a few beers no problem but a few glasses of wine always went to his head.

By this point Alec had turned his back to Izzy and she could tell he wasn't going to open up to her. Perhaps she'd try again tomorrow. She did want to do something for him though, and if her inkling as to why Alec was upset was correct then taking Max to Daycare tomorrow would be a great help to Alec. "Do you want me to take Max to Daycare in the morning? I don't have class until 10.30, so I won't have to leave til around 9.30." Izzy offered.

"Mmm, yea.., yes please. I am going to be so hungover... I don't know if I can face getting up that early." Alec replied through a mouthful of lasagne. Izzy gave Alec's shoulder a squeeze, said a quick goodnight and then strode off towards the stairs. She knew the hangover wasn't the only reason Alec didn't want to take Max to Daycare but she wasn't going to get it out of him at that moment in time.

Alec polished off the lasagne, trudged up the stairs, threw his clothes on the floor in his en-suite and looked at himself in the mirror. Why had he forced himself on Magnus? He wasn't ready for that yet, his parents had only just died and his life changed drastically because of it. Besides he had the little guy asleep on his bed to think about. Magnus was a really nice guy but he just wasn't ready to take that step yet. Magnus probably thought less than of him now too. Who gets drunk and throws themselves at people? He didn't even have the balls to talk to him after.

Alec washed his face, grabbed a t-shirt from on top of his dresser to wear in bed and got in, trying to avoid waking up Max. He didn't quite achieve this though and Max whimpered slightly. Alec rubbed his tummy a few times, one of the best ways to settle him and Max snuggled into Alec's side. It took Alec a while to get to sleep that night, but the wine certainly helped and the warmth of his little brother next to him was a great comfort too.

XxX

It was 11am before Alec woke, he must have been in the depths of sleep not to have been woken up when Izzy came to get Max. He opened his eyes slowly, taking a glance around to check his surroundings and took stock of how he felt. His head was pounding, he had a really dry mouth and he generally felt shit about himself. What a great way to wake up.

He only had a 1 - 5 shift today so he knew he had time to shower and hopefully feel slightly better before he had to face work. At least the smell of coffee would wake him up. By the time he got to work he did feel more human and set about serving customers. Luckily Clary wasn't here or she would have noticed his melancholy mood and questioned him until he gave in.

His shift went pretty quickly and then he braced himself for Daycare pick up. Hopefully Magnus would be working late again and his mum would be picking Finn up. He wanted to avoid him if at all possible. The good luck fairy was on Alec's side and Magnus' mum did pick Finn up again. Max and Finn were playing together once again and Finn wanted to introduce his grandmother to Max, which meant he also got an introduction too. Magnus' mum was very kind and sweet towards Max and clearly doted on Finn.

Just as Alec and Max were coming through the front door his phone buzzed but he didn't look at it. He didn't want to have to ignore Magnus, he was going to be polite as he usually was, but if contact could be avoided that is what he would prefer. At least until the embarrassment had worn off.

Fortunately, it was only Clary reminding him of the art class they were due at that evening. Alec had forgotten and almost texted Clary faking illness but he didn't want to break his promise to his friend. Besides, drawing usually helped take his mind off things.

XxX

By the time he had reached the community centre where the class was being held he was actually sort of looking forward to it. Hopefully he could put on a brave face for Clary and he wouldn't end up being interrogated. He walked into the main hall, saw Clary's mess of orange hair and sat down opposite her. "Alec! Hey! How are you?" Clary greeted him. "I'm good thanks, how are you?" Alec gave a template answer. "Good, good, it was nice to have a day off and I'm really excited for this class." Clary replied. She hadn't yet looked up from the sketch she was working on.

The class teacher started talking then so Alec turned his chair around so he could see more easily. Once the brief was given, he tried to summon his enthusiasm and then started to draw. It was going well until he couldn't quite get the right shading. He leaned over the table to reach for the eraser by Clary's elbow. She looked up at that point and her mouth fell open. Alec sat back, eraser in hand and started to gently rub it against his paper.

"Alec" Clary said. "Mmm" Alec answered, still focused on erasing. "Alec" Clary said more urgently". "What? Sorry did you want your eraser back?" Alec replied, going to put the eraser back down in the middle of the table. "What is that on your chest, just under your collarbone?" Clary asked quietly. "What is what?" Alec said just looking confusedly at Clary. "That" Clary urged, pulling the neckline of his top down slightly to reveal a purple mark on his skin.

Oh dear god. He had forgotten about that. Why did he lean over to get the eraser? Why couldn't he just be happy with his stupid shading? Now he had to answer questions he didn't want to. "Well?" Clary whispered impatiently. "Uhhmmm… uhhh.. I may have thrown myself at Magnus last night" Alec gave in, he couldn't exactly hide it now and Clary knew he was seeing Magnus yesterday, in fact he was surprised that she hadn't grilled him already on how it went.

Clary gasped "Oh. My. God. You have to give me the 411. Not here though, you probably shouldn't talk about it with all these people around us. Let's go somewhere after for a drink". Alec groaned, firstly, he didn't want to talk about it, secondly, he didn't think he could face even being in a bar after his hangover this morning.

Although, he loved art and drawing and most things creative, Alec just ended up sitting there watching everyone else for the rest of the class. He knew Clary wouldn't let him get out of talking about it, he just didn't want to end up feeling as upset as he did last night. The class finished, Alec didn't even bother taking his drawing home, he couldn't concentrate properly so it wasn't any good.

By the time they came out of the centre, it was raining quite heavily, so they dashed down the street to the closest bar. Alec pushed the door open for Clary, then followed in after her. Clary chose a table in the corner and slung her wet coat over the back of a chair. Alec was tempted to run away but Clary was glaring at him and he knew that she would run right after him if the did that. So he pulled his coat off too and hung it over his own chair, albeit at a massively unhurried pace.

"Sit down Alec. You aren't getting out of this." Clary warned. Alec flopped down into his seat and stared at Clary. "Would a beer make this easier?" she asked. "NO. No. No beer." Alec exclaimed. "Wow, okay, no beer. Fine. I'm gonna get a drink cos I'm 21 and can do that now. You want a coke or something?" Clary suggested. "Yea, a coke is good, thanks". Clary's birthday had been over the weekend, not that she'd told Alec until after the event. Apparently she didn't want fuss. A girl after his own heart.

Clary was back within a few minutes and placed the drinks down on the table. "So, what happened? I can't tell if you're happy about it, or not." Clary said cross-examining Alec. "I don't know really, it was going well, we were chatting, and had dinner and stuff, then we went to look at Max's cot and I was just watching him. I don't know what came over me. Aside from the fact I'd had three glasses of wine." Alec confessed.

"So you literally threw yourself at him?" Clary asked. "Yea, basically, I think. Then things got kind of intense and he tried to get my belt undone and I freaked out." Alec recounted. "Ah, you freaked out? ...That's why you don't seem happy about it." Clary surmised.

"I'm just so embarrassed. I literally said he had a great ass then pounced on him, like some manwhore." Alec said then leant his head in his hands and took a sip of his coke as Clary chuckled at his previous comment. "But you were enjoying it before you freaked out?" Clary induced. When Alec just looked up at Clary from his hands with a frosty glare she continued "And if he gave you a hickey then he must have been enjoying it too…are you sure this is a bad thing?"

"Yes. It's a bad thing. I forced myself on him, then ran away. And I refused to open my bedroom door when he tried to talk to me about it." Alec assured. "Ah, and you haven't spoken since?" Clary inquired. "No" Alec confirmed.

"Hmm, okay. So why did you freak out?" she pushed. "I don't know. I just did. All of a sudden it hit me that Max was next door and my parents died less than six months ago and I'm already being selfish and putting what I want before what Max needs." Alec justified.

"Alec, we've talked about this before. You are doing everything you can for Max and he's doing so well. You need to try and keep yourself happy too. If you aren't happy then Max will feed off that." Clary reasoned. "Yea, maybe. I'm just so embarrassed." Alec hid behind his drink again, really not wanting to talk about it anymore. "I can imagine. Maybe you just need to talk to him." Clary proposed. "Mmm" Alec murmured.

They moved on to other topics and Alec became a bit more animated as he chatted to his friend. He would just put this out of his mind for now. Focus on Max and work.

Once there were only empty glasses on the table, the two friends went out into the still pouring rain and went their separate ways.

XxX

It was a short drive home for Alec and he dashed into the house, no-one was around so he went to Max's room to check on him. He was sound asleep in his new bed, thanks to Magnus. Alec placed a soft kiss on his forehead then went to his own room and stripped his clothes off. He went for a shower to warm up a bit as he was getting quite cold now, given it was nearly December and his clothes had gotten quite damp in the rain. He was exhausted so after a very quick shower he brushed his teeth and got into bed straight away. He went to set an alarm on his phone and noticed he had a text. From the very man he was dreading hearing from.

 **Hey Blue Eyes, how are you? My mum said she met you today and you are a 'delightful young man' My thoughts entirely ;) x**

Alec didn't know what to do, Magnus had asked a direct question so he felt bad about not replying. After all he is the dad of Max's best friend and he probably couldn't avoid him forever. He just didn't know what to say, he typed out a few responses but none of them sounded right. In a burst of frustration he chucked his phone down on the bed, grabbed the other pillow, plonked it over his head and let out an angry growl.

He was so annoyed at himself. He kind of felt like maybe he had had a good thing going with Magnus, they were getting to know each other, it had just progressed too fast due to his drunken antics. Besides he had to get along with Finn's dad if Max was going to remain good friends with him. Which so far there hadn't been any bumps in that road as you might expect with small children. Maybe he should just suck it up? Magnus didn't seem to be annoyed at him, at least not from the one text message he had received.

He slowly removed the pillow from his face and reached for his phone halfway down the bed.

 **Hey Magnus. Yea I met your mum, she was delightful too x**

It had been a good twenty minutes since Magnus had text him and it was quite late so he wasn't sure if he'd get a reply but just as Alec was thinking that his phone buzzed in his hand.

 **Ah thanks Blue Eyes. I love her to bits. Anyway, are you okay? I tried to talk to you last night but maybe you weren't well or you fell asleep or something x**

Magnus had just given him an out, sort of, I mean he was still embarrassed about the getting drunk and throwing himself at him thing, but at least the plain rudeness of not talking to him afterwards could be excused if he had gotten sick. He was pretty drunk, that was believable. Right?

 **Yea, yea sorry... I don't do well with wine, should have stuck to beer. Sorry x**

 **No worries Blue Eyes. I really enjoyed our date...especially the end ;) anyway we better get some rest, it's late and Daycare means an early start! x**

He didn't have the heart to tell Magnus that he wasn't going to be at Daycare tomorrow. He had a rare day off. Although he worked part time he usually had a shift most days of the week, even if it was only a four hour one. At least not seeing Magnus for the next few days would give him chance to get his thoughts in order. His instinct was to reply to Magnus and tell him that he had a good time too, but he didn't want to lead him on if he did come to the conclusion that he really wasn't ready for a relationship. He was reminded once again of all the conversations Clary had had with him, trying to get him to see the positives of being with someone in a stable relationship. He knew deep down, that he wanted that, everybody does, but his head was holding him back. What if Magnus and he only dated for a short while? What would that mean for Max and his friendship with Finn? That would surely make playdates awkward. What if Magnus only wanted him for one thing and he didn't actually want a proper relationship? He hadn't necessarily got that vibe from Magnus so far, he seemed really nice and genuine, but sometimes you just can't tell.

Why couldn't he just make up his mind and stick to it? Yes, he was only a 19 year old guy, with a very small child to look after, who had no supervisory support in doing so, who's life had basically been turned upside down, but still. This is something he wouldn't really have contemplated this much before. Okay, he was sort of shy and not the most outgoing of people, but if a hot guy was interested in him he would have usually gone for it. So why couldn't he take the leap now?


	8. Chapter 8

The weekend proved to be good thinking time for Alec. He finally opened up to Izzy who was surprisingly understanding and helpful. She'd basically validated to Alec all the things that he thought to himself on Thursday night. His life had been turned upside down, he did have other responsibilities now and actually if anything, he was showing his maturity by not jumping into bed with Magnus.

That conversation really made him feel better and closer to his sister than he had felt in a while. She also reminded him that, as Clary had multiple times, he deserved to be happy too. He had come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to 'jump into bed with Magnus' as Izzy had so charmingly put it, but he would try to forget about their previous date and hope Magnus could too. He wanted to develop a friendship first, he wanted to walk before he tried to run. As that just backfired last time.

So he had a plan. Talk to Magnus next time he saw him, do it in person, so there wasn't any miscommunication and just tell him how he felt.

The next time Alec did see Magnus was Tuesday morning. Finn nor Magnus weren't anywhere to be found when he dropped Max off just before 8am on Monday. To be honest, he was thankful for that as it gave him another day to run through his little 'speech' he was going to give Magnus when he did see him.

XxX

That speech however, didn't quite come out as planned, as Alec found out on Tuesday.

"Alec, hey!" Magnus greeted Alec just as he was walking out into the parking lot of the Daycare building and Magnus was getting Finn out of his car.

"Oh, hey Magnus, you're a bit late today aren't you? Don't you start work at 8?" Alec inquired as Magnus and Finn padded over to him.

"Yea usually but as my team worked silly hours to deliver that project last week the boss said we could all come in at 9 instead of 8 this week. So I'm dropping Finn off a little later and having breakfast with him at home as I don't usually get to do that." Magnus explained whilst stroking Finn's hair softly beside him.

"Wow, that's nice of him. Anyway erm well unfortunately I've got an 8.30 shift so I better go. It was nice seeing you" Alec went to walk off but Magnus reached out and grasped his wrist quickly.

"Hey Alec wait, I just need to drop Finn inside but then do you think we could talk quickly?" Magnus almost begged. "Uhh, yea sure." Alec responded.

He waited in the parking lot, just sort of hovering and stepping stiffly from foot to foot. He had tried to postpone 'the talk' again, as he really did have an 8.30 shift and it was verging on 8.15, but he owed it to Magnus and he thought it might be kind of like pulling off a band aid. If you did it quickly it hurt less, if you longed it out it would be painful. Magnus returned in less than two minutes and walked over to Alec.

"So, are you really okay? You didn't reply to my text the other night and you did kind of run away from me when I came over on Wednesday.." Magnus said softly to Alec with a kind smile.

"Yea, uhm, yea, I'm really sorry about that. It all kind of happened a bit fast and I have Max to consider, and I just don't know if I'm ready for anything at the moment, I mean you're a really great guy and everything, it's definitely not you. It really is me. As I said I just don't know if I can do this right now, everything's just changed so much recently and it's kind of overwhelming and..." Alec tried to get out in one breath whilst looking down at the ground still stepping from foot to foot.

Magnus cut over him "Alec, calm down. Look I know it was a bit much on Wednesday, we were both a little bit tipsy and it went too far and I'm really sorry about that. But I don't want it to be one step forward and two steps back. I'm happy to give you time, if that's what you need but please don't shy away from me okay?" Magnus said warmly.

"Yea, that sounds great. So just friends for now and see how it goes in time. I can do that." Alec replied in a much more relaxed tone.

"Okay, I mean yea maybe not too much time" Magnus said with a smirk, but seeing Alec's brief look of horror, he continued. "I'm joking. Sort of...well I'll let you get to work and maybe I'll see you later at pick up time?"

"Sure, yea. Have a good day Magnus" Alec said through an honest smile and then jogged over to his car.

He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Magnus was completely understanding, he wasn't angry or really upset. Well, he had seen Magnus' smile falter when he said 'friends' but it quickly recovered. They left on good terms and Alec was feeling much happier about the whole situation. Being solid friends first was definitely the way forward.

Clary practically bounced towards Alec when he got into work, telling him that she had secured a place at the town's art show and would be having a whole wall to display her work on at the show in the January. "That's amazing! I'm so proud of you" he cheered as he caught Clary in a bear hug.

"Will you come and support me?" Clary requested. "Are you kidding! Of course I will, I wouldn't miss it for the world. So do you have a specific theme to follow or medium you have to use?" Alec was genuinely excited for Clary.

The pair spent the next hour or so talking in detail about Clary's wall for the art show and bouncing ideas off each other for what she could do. It was only when it got to around 10 that Clary suddenly exclaimed "Hang on! Have you seen Magnus yet? I know he wasn't there yesterday but did you see him this morning?"

"Yea, I did. It went okay I think. I mean it didn't quite start off as I wanted it to. I forgot my speech and completely rambled on until Magnus stopped me but it ended well." Alec explained.

"Okay, that's good. So you told him you wanted to get to be better friends before it progresses any further right? That's what the gist of your speech was when I made you practice it on me yesterday." Clary asked.

"Yea, I said that we should focus on being friends for now and see how it goes with time" Alec recalled.

"How did he react to that?" Clary questioned. "Well, he looked a bit disappointed at first but then he seemed fine with it at the end"

"I guess that can only be expected. Well I'm glad you talked to him. Do you feel better for it?" Clary queried.

"Yea, I do. I'm even kind of looking forward to exploring the friendship a bit more now there's not as much pressure" Alec said whilst biting his lip.

"See! I knew talking to him would solve everything!" Clary shouted with an 'I told you so' look on her pale face.

"Okay, okay, I must always listen to you, almighty knowledgeable one" Alec retorted and then stuck his tongue out at her and stalked off to collect used coffee mugs from the tables.

Alec did see Magnus at pick up time and they had a brief chat which felt quite natural. Magnus asked him whether he had thought anymore about Max's birthday as if he was going to do something then he'd need to send invitations out soon. Alec kind of forgot he'd have to do it properly and that Max would probably want to give out invitations to his friends. Finn was keen to get home and play with some new toy Magnus had gotten him over the weekend so they rushed off rather quickly.

On the way home Alec talked to Max about his birthday and if he wanted to have a party. Max didn't really know what a party was so Alec had to explain that he could have all his friends round and they would play some games, have some food he wasn't usually allowed to eat much of like cake and sweets and then his friends would hopefully bring him presents too. Max definitely knew what presents were as he suddenly became very animated when Alec talked about those.

That had settled it for Alec, Max seemed absolutely thrilled at the idea of cake and having all his friends at home like he had at Daycare. Alec realised he hadn't really seen Max with many of the other children in his class at Daycare so he asked Max who he would like to come to his birthday party.

"Finn! Erm and, and Lucy annnnd Adam and Nate. Oh and Bella. I like Bella." Max finally finished, after a good minute of thinking time.

"That's only five friends, is there anyone else you want to invite?" Alec questioned. "Mrs Miller!" Max shouted.

"Max, I don't know if Mrs Miller would come. What would happen if everyone in your class invited Mrs Miller, she'd have to go to twenty birthday parties a year! She would get very tired" Alec tried to convey to Max, without having to tell him inviting his class teacher was weird.

XxX

The rest of the week progressed similarly. Alec saw Magnus once more at pick up time on Thursday and they had another quick chat but then Max seemingly got some confidence from somewhere and overtook the conversation by telling Magnus about his birthday party.

"Finn's daddy, I will be 3 and have a party" Max yelled over Alec.

"Max! I was talking, it's rude to shout when other people are talking remember" Alec mildly scolded. "Sowwy" Max said.

Then both Alec and Max realised that Finn was talking to Magnus "Daddy, can I go? Max said I can go!" Finn bounced on his feet whilst begging Magnus. Magnus glanced at Alec with a bit of an odd look on his face "That's okay right? I uhm don't want to get under your feet or anything".

"Don't be silly, Max really wants Finn there and it would be nice to see you there too. I'll make sure there's some grown up food on offer." Alec chuckled. Magnus smiled at Alec and Max and then nodded his head to Finn. There was lots of cheering, from Finn, Max and even a little from Magnus.

Over the weekend Alec and Izzy took Max to town and let him pick out some invitations and party bags and other things they would need for the party. They were going to hold it the weekend just after Max's birthday, as Alec had a shift on the Saturday before. Max was a little bit hard to handle, apparently turning 3 in ten days and getting to pick between several very colourful party bags made for a very excitable child.

Izzy was starting to lose her patience waiting for Max to choose. To be fair Alec was a little bit too, they had been standing there for almost five minutes watching Max's head move side to side as he scanned the racks. Eventually Izzy just suggested that they get Spiderman ones as then Max could wear his Spiderman dress up outfit to the party. Thankfully Max seemed satisfied with that so they purchased all the items they would need and headed off home.

XxX

That evening after Max was in bed and Izzy was again out on the town with some friends, Alec was sitting on the sofa writing out invites and a list of the food they would need to get for Max's party. He assumed that as the kids were young their parents would likely just stay for the duration, although he put a note on the back of the invite to explain that there would be a good adult to child ratio given that Max only wanted to invite five kids, so the parents needn't worry.

Just as Alec was finishing up his list he got a text from Magnus. He hadn't actually really spoken to Magnus outside of seeing him at Daycare since they had had their talk.

 **Hey Alec. How was your week? x**

Alec took notice of the kiss on the end but figured that it was just Magnus personality and he probably did that with all his friends. Or maybe he should just learn to chill out a bit and not overthink things.

 **Hey Magnus. Yea it was good thanks, hope yours was too. Took Max to pick out party stuff today. He's really excited x**

They texted for about an hour on and off with Magnus reviewing a picture of Alec's list and pointing out things he had missed. It was only after the conversation had finished that Alec realised his jaw was hurting slightly as he'd been grinning nearly the whole time and laughing at Magnus' silly jokes and mild teasing.

The weekend and the rest of the week in general went quickly after that. Max had given his invites out and the RSVPs had all come back yes. He was getting more and more hyper the closer his birthday got.

Magnus had come into The Coffee House for lunch again during the week and invited Alec for another stroll round the park. They'd talked about their dreams and ambitions as they contently walked side by side. Alec didn't really know if he had any ambitions necessarily but his dream as a kid had always been to be a police officer. He'd played cops and robbers at school with Jace but he'd always be the cop, never the robber.

Magnus asked what had changed, why it was no longer his dream. Alec didn't really know, his parents had just told him that he had to go to college so he could go into a well paid profession and he'd just gone along with it, forgetting about his own wishes. Unfortunately it started to drizzle after only half an hour so they rushed back to the shop before it really started raining and Magnus strode off towards his work without a kiss goodbye this time.

XxX

Saturday Alec had a short afternoon shift but it was a busy one, it was always more busy on Saturdays. It was him and Clary running the show as Zach was meant to be in but he had called in sick that morning. Alec didn't mind, he liked being busy and useful.

About fifteen minutes before the end of Alec's shift Magnus came through the door, this time with Finn and his mum in tow. "Oh, hey Alec. I didn't realise you had to work weekend shifts too." Magnus commented.

"Yea, usually every other weekend unfortunately. What have you guys been doing?" Alec replied. Apparently they'd just been out getting Finn some new clothes as he was going through a bit of a growth spurt and also a present for Max for his birthday. After Magnus' mum had come back from taking Finn to the toilet she said hello to Alec again and requested a very large cappuccino as she'd been on her feet all day and needed some energy.

As Alec was making the cappuccino and a vanilla cream, sugar filled, caramel frappucino for Magnus Clary came up behind him and asked if they were still on for after work. Alec gave a quick yea response and focused back on Magnus and his mum.

"You guys doing anything nice?" Magnus inquired.

"Clary said there's this new Italian restaurant opened down by Westchester church that she really wants to try and it's Izzy's night with Max so thought we'd check it out" Alec answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, yea I heard about that, I wouldn't mind trying there at some point." Magnus agreed.

"I'm sure lovely Alec here wouldn't mind if you joined. I can take Finn home" Magnus' mum looked expectantly at the two of them.

"Uhh, oh no I don't want to impose." Magnus answered quickly. Clary once again materialized right next to Alec "Don't be silly, it's not an imposition is it Alec?" Clary sweetly said, sort of fakely in Alec's opinion, as she stared Alec down.

"No, uhm, no of course not, why don't you come along Magnus. We'll be finished with our shift in ten minutes or so." Alec suggested after a few seconds of Clary's glaring.

"Perfect, that's settled. Come on Finn I'm going to take you home" Magnus' mum spoke down to Finn as she motioned for his hand.

The three took a slow walk down to the new restaurant, which Clary had managed to increase the booking for to three as long as they sat down a tad later at 6, rather than 5.30. As they were walking Clary had to take a phone call leaving Magnus and Alec walking slightly behind together.

"I'm really sorry about my mum, I kind of feel like she forced you into this" Magnus apologised to Alec.

"No need to be sorry. It wasn't like I was taking Clary on a date or anything, the more the merrier" Alec laughed softly at his own joke. They fell into an easy conversation as they approached the restaurant.

As it neared 8pm and Alec, Clary and Magnus were all slumped in their chairs with full bellies laughing at Magnus' mild teasing of Alec's rather faded star wars t-shirt, Alec realised he really wanted to savour the evening, it was rare for him to get free time from work and caring for Max, and he couldn't really think of a better way to spend it. The food and the company was delightful, even if he did have to endure being ganged up on by the fashion police.

* * *

 **A/N: A quick thanks to TerriJ who has reviewed every chapter so far! xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while, got 12 hour days at work at the minute so I'm exhausted when I get home and the one day I was home earlier this week we had a power cut! Typical!**

* * *

The day of the party loomed and Max was causing mayhem. It had started the day before his actual birthday and progressively gotten worse as the week went on. Alec thought he might calm down after his actual birthday and had gotten opening presents and eating cake out of his system but no, by the time it got to Friday Alec was begging Clary to save him. He didn't know what had come over the kid, he was usually fairly quiet and well behaved but he'd turned into a hyper and loud little Tasmanian devil. I guess that is what normal 3 year olds are like Alec thought. His parents had almost trained Max as you would a dog so that he wouldn't shout unnecessarily, didn't seem to have excess energy and generally would just act on his parents command. Alec was glad that Max was seemingly gradually forgetting that 'training' even if it did mean he had to deal with Max when he had days like this.

Luckily, Clary didn't have to work Friday either so she came over and helped with Max and getting the stuff set up for the party the following day. Max really seemed to have a soft spot for Clary, he happily played with her and let her read him stories and feed him his lunch. When Max went down for a nap after lunch Alec asked Clary if she would mind watching Max while he went out to get the food for the party. It would be so much easier without having Max there, especially in the mood he was in at the moment. He felt a bit bad leaving Clary on her own, but he knew that this would be his only chance really and he wasn't sure that Max was so comfortable with Clary as to let her watch him without Alec there. Clary, of course, did not hesitate to agree, saying that she would gladly sit and blow up the red and blue balloons whilst he did the shopping.

Alec rushed round the grocery store ticking items off his list as he went. When he had a full trolley he went to the bakery section to select the cake that Max would like best. It was a pretty easy choice really, they had a spiderman cake and that was the theme of everything else so he picked up one of those and went to the checkout.

By the time Alec got home Max was actually up, although still a bit sleepy from his nap so he couldn't have been awake for long. Clary had him on her lap on the sofa reading him a story. Alec used that time to put the food away in the fridge and cupboards and hide the cake, then went over to his friend and little brother to sit down next to them and see what the story was about. Max snuggled into Clary more as Alec sat down so maybe Alec had been wrong about leaving Max alone with Clary whilst he wasn't there. He was absolutely fine and didn't seem at all bothered. That boded well for the future if he ever needed a babysitter...

Once the story was over Max sat up straighter giving a big stretch and then said to Alec "Can Clary come to the party?" Alec eyed the reaction on Clary's face. He didn't want her to feel coerced into giving up her Saturday to go to a kid's birthday party but she kept the same even smile on her face as she looked down at Max. "Of course she can! Only if she wants to though" Alec added. "Pwease Clary" Max said with his bottom lip sticking out in a pout. "Oh Max, I would love to come!" Clary replied as she started tickling his ribs.

XxX

Clary stayed the rest of the evening, putting Max to bed again. She then helped Alec cook a proper adult worthy meal in time for when Izzy got home from her course. This was the first time the girls had met but they got on like a house on fire. Clary wasn't the most fashionable of people but she could hold her own in a conversation and name drop a few designers.

After the three had dinner Alec got out the sweets and things he'd got from the store to go into the pass the parcel game, as well as the little toys for the party bags. Izzy set about dividing out the toys into party bags, Clary started wrapping layers of newspaper around sweets and Alec arranged party food into bowls and covered them with clingfilm. It wasn't long before everything was prepared for the party tomorrow and Clary got up to get ready to leave. Izzy wasn't too happy about this and instead asked if she wanted to stay and watch this new rom com that had come onto Netlfix. Clary didn't have anywhere to be so she put her coat back on the peg and went to gather the blankets from the floor putting them back on the sofa.

Izzy was popping popcorn, Clary was tidying, Max was asleep so Alec tried to sneak off upstairs. Perhaps he could continue watching that horror series he'd started a few weeks ago. "Alec, where are you running off to?" Clary called. "I was just gonna watch tv upstairs so I don't disturb you two" Alec explained. "Uh uh. If I have to be subjected to a girly film with your sister, then so do you!" she said as she went over to him and pushed him back towards the sofa. He plopped down without complaint, besides he could just text Jace or something, he didn't have to watch the film and he didn't want to leave Clary with his sister if she didn't want that. His sister could be intimidating at times and besides he'd already left Clary alone with other members of his family today.

As the film started Alec pretended to be interested whilst getting through his handful of popcorn. After less than ten minutes though Alec was bored. He texted Jace to ask him how his week had been and waited for a response, grabbing another handful of popcorn to keep himself entertained. He really didn't get rom coms, they seemed so unbelievable most of the time. Forty minutes and another three handfuls of popcorn later he still hadn't heard back from Jace. Maybe he was out, it was Friday after all and he could remember from when he was at college that the dorm was basically empty most Friday and Saturday nights.

A thought sprung to Alec's mind, he had barely seen Magnus that week, they'd taken on two new staff at work so the rota was less Alec and Clary heavy now so Max had only been in Daycare two days that week and he'd only seen Magnus one of them. He decided to text him, their friendship was developing nicely and he wanted to keep it going. He was being honest when he said he wanted to see where it went with time.

 **Hey Magnus, what you been up to this week? Up to anything much tonight? X**

He got a response almost immediately. Yea stuff Jace, Magnus wanted to talk to him!

 **Hi Alec, not a lot during the week, another busy one with a couple of late nights at the office. I'm off out in an hour or so with a friend I met at college. He's around here on business for a couple of days so just going out for dinner x**

Alec felt something in his tummy. He didn't really know what it was, a kind of unfamiliar knotting. Hopefully the food they'd cooked for dinner wasn't off.

 **Oh no, make sure you have a relaxing weekend then. Where are you guys going for dinner? X**

 **Just that French place down by the river. What about you, doing anything this eve? x**

 **That place that has the terrace overlooking the river you mean? The fancy one? Just watching this rom com with Clary and Izzy. Bored out of my skull x**

 **Yea that one, but I haven't seen him in a while so thought I'd show him the best the town has to offer. Which rom com? X**

Alec huffed a little bit at that, must be some guy to take him there, that place was crazily expensive!

 **I dunno exactly, it's called The Lucky One, about some guy who's a marine or something. I'm not really paying attention x**

 **Oh. I LOVE that film. That guy in it is super hot x**

Alec snorted at that. Of course Magnus would be into rom coms, especially the ones with hot guys in them. Thinking about it maybe Alec should pay attention a bit more.

 **Ha, yea actually he is. Anyway, I'll let you get ready for your dinner x**

 **You really should watch it properly, it is pretty good. Yes, I should get ready now he'll be here in half an hour and I have no clue what to wear. Night Alec x**

That knotting feeling surfaced in Alec's stomach again. He knew Magnus liked to look good but why would he care that much about what he was wearing to this dinner. He was pretty sure that restaurant had a strict suit, tie and dress shoes policy, surely picking clothes for that wouldn't be difficult. He text a quick goodnight back and tried to focus on the movie properly. The problem was it was half way through by now so he didn't really understand the plot.

The movie ended, by which point all three were yawning. It had been busy days for them all, Izzy had a practical session of sewing at school that day which was physical work and Alec and Clary had been running round after Max most of the day too. Clary got her shoes on quickly, picked her coat off the hook, called a quick "See you just before 3 tomorrow guys" then hurried out the door before she could be convinced into staying any longer.

Izzy got up from the sofa she was on, moved over to where Alec was sitting and covered them both with a blanket again. "Who were you texting during the movie darling brother?" she questioned. "Magnus. I tried Jace but I guess he must be out" Alec responded. "Ah that was why I saw a range of emotions covering your face then" Izzy deduced. "Was it that obvious? I think he might be on a date. He's taking some friend from college to that French place on the river. It's so expensive and fancy there." Alec complained. "Oh Alec. You did say you wanted to be friends. He is entitled to see other people you know" Izzy explained softly. "I know, I know. I just didn't think he'd move that quickly. I mean I know I said I wanted to be just friends but I did also say that we would see where it went in time. I guess maybe he's not willing to give that time?" Alec thought out loud. "Well you don't know for sure that he's on a date right. You said you only _think_ he's on one?" Izzy asked. "Yea, he didn't say he was going on a date but it sounds like it is. I mean who takes a friend to that place!" Alec said with a huff at the end. "Yea, I know what you mean. Well if it's bothering you so much maybe you should just ask him?" Izzy suggested. "What! No, no way. I can't ask him that. Besides I'm not even sure if I actually want to know" Alec replied. "Ah brother, maybe you should just be more like me and go on dates that don't mean anything and have one night stands if it's bothering you this much." Izzy chuckled out. "Iz! I don't want to hear that! I'm your older brother!" Alec shouted. Izzy just laughed and sauntered off up the stairs.

Alec followed and fell into bed. He could shower in the morning. He was too tired right now. Besides it was more important he slept, Max would probably be up at the crack of dawn with excitement for his party.

XxX

Alec was right. Max was up at the crack of dawn. He woke him up at 5.30 by jumping onto his bed and then all over Alec. Maybe Alec should rethink this whole bed thing, at least with the cot he couldn't escape.

Thankfully Alec managed to get him playing with his new train set they'd got him for his birthday in his own room again. He did come in and show Alec bits of train set and tell him cool things he'd managed to do with it, but Alec got away with a few grunts of acknowledgement and managed a couple more hours of on and off snoozing.

By the time it was nearly 8am though Max was then riding up and down the hallway on his also brand new scooter so Alec thought it probably best he get up. Firstly, he'd gotten Max the scooter as apparently it developed motor skills in young children but he didn't want to find out what those motor skills in Max were like as he fell off into a wall or rolled down the stairs. He somehow doubted he'd be able to cling on or stop himself. Secondly, Izzy was likely to come out and shout at Max any second.

"Come on Max, let's go downstairs for breakfast." Alec called as he waited for Max to scoot back down to his end of the hallway. "No, I like this" Max retaliated. Alec groaned and just grabbed Max off the scooter with one arm and carried him downstairs flailing against him whilst he tried to cover Max's mouth so his shouting wouldn't wake Izzy.

This sort of behaviour carried on for a while until Alec told Max he could cancel the party quite easily if he didn't calm down. He was as good as gold after that. Alec didn't like resorting to threats but they sure were effective.

By the time 2.30 arrived Alec and Izzy were putting the food out onto the dining table, which they had moved over to one side of the room to make space in the middle of the open plan kitchen/lounge/diner for the kids. Shortly after, the first ring of the doorbell came and Izzy went over to answer it. It was only Clary, who Izzy greeted with a one armed hug as Max had already run up to steal his own hug of Clary's legs.

"Hey Maxy! You sure seem excited!" Clary exclaimed as she picked Max up for a proper hug, giving him a kiss on his cheek too. "Yea! It's the party!" Max squealed and then wriggled so Clary would put him down. Clary went to walk over to say Hi to Alec but Max just tugged on her hand and pulled her the other way to show Clary his scooter.

Everything was laid out and ready to go when the second ring of the doorbell came much closer to 3 o clock. This time it was Magnus and Finn, which caused Max to get even more excited as Finn also had to be shown his new scooter and they proceeded to ride it round the adults legs.

Not long after that the rest of the kids arrived. All their parents made some comment to Izzy or Alec around giving them a few hours off from their kids, popped the child through the door and then hurried off. Seemingly, none of the kids seemed at all bothered and happily just played with the others, waving a quick goodbye to their parents.

Alec and Clary got the party games underway, starting with pass the parcel. At least with six kids it was easy to remember who had already had a turn or not. There was also a good 30 layers of wrapping around the main present according to Clary so this lasted quite a while. Max, who of course, got the main present was delighted with the face paint set shouting that he wanted everyone to have face paint done. Clary was happy to do it and Magnus wanted a go too so they settled down to that, one child up each time whilst Alec and Izzy played spin the tail on the donkey with the rest of them.

Max wanted spiderman to go with the rest of the his dress up outfit, which Clary very skilfully did. Magnus was really good at doing tigers and Clary got the glitter out for the girls butterflies. Once all the kids were face painted up Alec got them all to pick some party food on to their plates and sit on the floor to eat. Everyone was quietly eating away until Max shouted "Why don't you have face paint?" over towards the adults who were sitting on the dining chairs.

Izzy got up, dragged Clary over to the face paints and had her do a butterfly on her cheek. "You too Alec!" Max hollered. Alec just shook his head causing the rest of the kids and Magnus to start chanting his name. "Okay, okay fine!" Alec conceded.

Magnus pulled Alec over to the face paints and asked him what he wanted. "I dunno, something quick and easy, whatever you want" Alec replied. That was the wrong thing to say. Magnus didn't go for quick and easy, at least fifteen minutes and nearly a whole tub of glitter later and Alec was a sparkly unicorn, much to the delight of everyone else.

So Alec got his own back as Clary and Izzy played musical chairs with the kids. Alec had a really creative side so he took a while to think about what he wanted to subject Magnus to.

"You okay there Blue Eyes?" Magnus said as he nudged Alec's knee with his own to get him out of his staring off into space mode. The phrase Blue Eyes got Alec out of that quick enough though. "Oh, yea.. Just trying to imagine what I want you to look like" Alec replied.

He decided to go quite intricate, starting with a rainbow down from the middle of Magnus' forehead to his cheek. He held Magnus' chin softly between his forefinger and thumb of one hand as the other one drew broad strokes down the side of his face. Magnus sat quietly, letting Alec do his thing. He was quite excited to see what it looked like, he knew Alec was into art but he'd not yet seen any of his work.

After a few more minutes the rainbow was finished and Alec moved on to start a bird on Magnus' other cheek."So how was Max this morning? What time did he wake up?" Magnus inquired. Alec responded but then told Magnus to stop moving so he could draw the bird, placing his hand under Magnus' chin again to hold him in place. Once the bird was done Alec took an overall view of Magnus' face and then decided to fill in the gaps with some fancy swirly bits and more glitter. He knew Magnus would like that.

Magnus took this opportunity where Alec wasn't drawing on his face to talk again "So how did you like the movie yesterday? Get into it in the end? Zac Efron is hot isn't he?" Magnus chuckled out. This reminded Alec of what Magnus was doing yesterday and he felt slightly down again, as he had the previous night.

Alec held Magnus' chin again and started the swirls as he replied "It was alright but yes Zac Efron is a looker. How was your date?" That caused Magnus to bolt his eyes open even though Alec was currently drawing over one eyelid. The face paint brush managed to get into the corner of his eye and Magnus yelped.

"Oh gosh, sorry, sorry. I'm so sorry. I think I have some eye wash in the bathroom" Alec said as Magnus was rapidly blinking and his eye was getting redder and watery. Alec got up and hurried off to the downstairs bathroom round the corner as Magnus followed. He rooted through a cupboard until he found the eyewash and passed it to Magnus.

Once Magnus' eye wasn't hurting him anymore and he had wiped away the residue liquid he turned to Alec and said "How does it look?" Alec being the ever caring friend he was replied with "It looks better, but take the eye wash home with you just in case it feels sore again later". With that, he turned towards the door but Magnus grasped his wrist before he could reach the doorknob.

"Hey, wait. Why did you ask how my date was last night?" Magnus quizzed. "Oh, well, I guess it just seemed like such a fancy place to take a friend, and you said you needed to pick out what to wear and stuff. But it's okay, just cos we had a bit of a thing for like a week doesn't mean you can't tell me you are going on a date" Alec countered.

"No, no Alec, you've got it all wrong. It wasn't a date at all. I only took him there because whenever I go to visit him, he always takes me to really really nice places and I wanted to repay the favour. Jem's from a rich family so I guess I sort of felt like I couldn't just take him to any old place. And I always carefully pick out what I wear. Have you not seen me?" Magnus explained with a chuckle towards the end and a motion down his body to the rather jazzy outfit he had on.

Hearing that made Alec's shoulders lift from the almost permanent slump they'd had since the previous night. "Oh, okay. So it really wasn't a date? Cos if it was you can tell me, really." Alec responded.

"No, Alec. It really wasn't a date. Jem is verily happily engaged to a lovely _girl_ named Tessa, and I meant what I said when I said I'd wait for you to be ready" Magnus urged Alec to believe him.

"Ohhh. Sorry, it just seemed like such a date worthy restaurant to me" Alex explained. Magnus laughed out "Yea, it is. That place is incredible and if you are ever ready for a proper date with me then I will gladly take you there." Magnus said as he place his hand on Alec's bicep with a little squeeze.

Alec blushed at Magnus' words, muttered out "Uhm, thanks", looked up at Magnus with a small smile on his face and said "Anyway, we better get back to the party"

"Yea, let's go Blue Eyes" Magnus agreed as he dropped his hand slowly from Alec's arm down to his hand and gave that a light squeeze too.

XxX

The rest of the party was a great success, Max managed to blow out his three candles all at once as Izzy filmed it on her phone and he passed out the party bags just before the end. After all the other kids were collected Alec asked Clary and Magnus if they wanted to stay for a little while longer. Clary had already started tidying and said she wanted to help until it was finished anyway and Magnus agreed easily, saying Finn had already said he didn't want to go home like the other kids, he wanted to see Max open his presents.

It was just after 6.30 when all the leftover food was in the fridge and the used plates and newspaper from pass the parcel was in the bin when the group settled down on the sofa to watch Max open all his presents.

"Open mine first!" Finn shouted. "Okay, sweetie, Max will open them in the order he wants to" Magnus told Finn. Finn's present was actually wrapped in spiderman wrapping paper and was the biggest so Max did go for that first. He unwrapped it with enthusiasm to reveal a big spiderman soft toy thing that could shoot white string out of it's wrists and if you pulled the cord at the back it would say spiderman's catchphrases.

The next few minutes consisted of Finn, Max and the spiderman toy shouting out 'My spidey sense is tingling' until Max remembered he had other presents to open. Magnus had also got Max a little something that was wrapped in the same paper so he opened that one next. It was a pair of spiderman slippers which max immediately put on with a little help from Magnus.

Clary had gotten Max a radio controlled car which Max and Finn spent the next hour playing with, crashing it into walls and people's feet. By the time it got to 7.30 which was usually around Max's bedtime, both boys were just lying on the floor, taking it in turns to drive the car back and forth into each other. Magnus saw that Finn was tired so got ready to take him home. Max and Alec walked Finn and Magnus out to the car. Once Finn was in his car seat Magnus turned to Alec and said "I really mean it. What I said earlier. I am completely willing to wait for you Alec."

That really warmed Alec's heart, he knew Magnus could probably go out and get any guy he wanted, he was gorgeous, and funny and could likely find someone better than Alec, but here he was, saying he would wait for him to be ready. Alec leaned up, placing his arms round Magnus' neck and gave him a gentle squeeze, leaned back again slightly and placed a soft kiss against the bird on Magnus' cheek.

As Alec stepped away Magnus' mouth formed a grin, he gave a quick "Later Blue Eyes" and slipped into the car. As they drove off down the street Alec turned round to see that Max was shivering slightly, he hadn't put a coat on him after all and it was December, so he scooped him up into his arms held him tight and went back inside.

Just as he was walking back over to the sofas where Clary and Izzy were quietly chatting Max said loudly "Why did you kiss Finn's daddy Alec?"


	10. Chapter 10

Apparently your little three year old brother shouting about you kissing a guy was funny. Izzy and Clary burst into giggles causing Max to laugh too, although he probably didn't know why.

After the laughter had died down and Alec had deposited Max onto the sofa Alec thought about what to say to Max. He was a curious child and Alec didn't just want to give him an answer that would keep him quiet. Besides if he focused the attention on reassuring Max hopefully he'd avoid an interrogation from Clary and Izzy.

"Well Max, Finn's daddy is my friend too. Like Finn is your friend and he said something very nice to me." Alec started to explain.

"Yes but why did you kiss him?" Max repeated.

"So you know how usually children will have a mummy and a daddy? Well sometimes children might actually have two daddies or two mummies. Or even before they have children they might just love each other, so a boy and a boy or a girl and a girl. Does that make sense?" Alec asked Max.

"Okay, so you want to be a daddy with Finn's daddy?" Max said looking quite confused.

Alec didn't really mean for it to come across like that but I guess it showed that Max kind of understood, at least the man and a man bit. Izzy could see Alec was struggling so she interjected "Sort of Max, Alec loves you and me very much, but he thinks maybe he might want someone else to love too, and maybe that might be Finn's daddy or it might be another man." Izzy said as she sat on the floor in front of Max and properly looked to see his reaction.

"Okay, but Alec will still be with me." Max stated.

"Yes, Max. Alec and I will always be with you and we love you lots and lots." Izzy confirmed.

"Okay." Max said seemingly satisfied then flopped down on to Clary's lap.

"Clary will you read me a story?" Max pleaded. "Of course Maxy, let's go" Clary gave the green light and picked him up.

Alec felt alright about Max's reaction to that. He didn't seem too phased as long as he still had Alec. Which he always would.

"So you kissed Magnus huh" Izzy teased as Clary and Max headed upstairs. Damn he hadn't managed to avoid the interrogation.

"Just on the cheek, don't get ideas." Alec retorted.

"What caused that? You said earlier that he said something really nice?" Izzy grilled.

"So you know yesterday I thought he was on a date. Apparently it wasn't and he tried to reassure me saying that he promised he would wait for me and he plans to do that." Alec replied, blushing furiously but with a cute smile. He wasn't usually the sappy type, especially not around his sister.

"Aww Alec, well as long as you are happy" she assured, giving him his own kiss on the cheek.

XxX

On Monday, Magnus and Alec saw each other at drop off time and walked out to the parking lot together. Magnus was talking about the swim lesson he had taken Finn to on Sunday.

"Are they old enough for that yet?" Alec asked unsurely.

"Yea, I mean a parent has to be in the water with them, but the instructor shows you how to support them and get them to keep their head above the water and stuff. You guys should come and try it next week." Magnus explained.

"Yea, maybe. I don't think Max has ever been in the water though, aside from the bath obviously" Alec replied.

"He might like it. Just give it a go!" Magnus pushed.

"Okay, okay. I'll bring him on Sunday. Send me the details." Alec surrendered.

"Cool, right I have to go. Later Blue Eyes" Magnus called as he dashed off to his car.

XxX

Alec had a busy week, he had shifts almost every day at work, he'd gone to his art class again on Thursday and he'd spent all the other nights midweek clearing out the office. He knew it had to be done at some point and he was the only one that would do it. There was three filing cabinets full of folders and documents which Alec had to sort through properly.

He'd been thinking recently about the house. It was a lovely house in a good part of town but it had six bedrooms, a huge lounge/diner, an office, a driveway for four cars and it was too big really. All they needed now was a four bedroom place, three really given Jace was barely ever at home and didn't have loads of belongings.

He just didn't want to be insensitive. It was the last place they'd ever seen their parents, he didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Sometimes it made him feel closer to them, when he was having a rough time and he thought about the good memories, but the rest of the time it was sort of just a reminder.

Maybe when Jace got through college, they'd see what he wanted to do and where he ended up. He might end up with a job across the country, or Izzy might move into the city if she wanted to work at one of the fashion houses. There was no point moving just yet until they had finished school.

Thankfully, Alec's weekend was looking completely free and when he woke on Saturday it was a nice feeling to have. Izzy was going to see some concert that evening, so staying at her friend's place in Manhattan for the weekend, so all he really had to focus on was Max. Who must have been either still asleep or playing by himself in his room which he was doing more and more these days, which Alec was very pleased about.

Alec was just getting up out of bed and about to wander into Max's room to see what he was up to.

 **Alec I know it's early still but I can please come over with Finn for a few hours today. He's been up since 6 and he's driving me crazy. He constantly wants me to entertain him, and I'm exhausted. Pleaseeee x**

Alec snorted at that, he had days like that with Max but at least then him and Izzy could share it if she was around. Magnus was on his own, it must be hard.

 **Sure, I'm only just up but come over in an hour or so X**

Alec got Max ready and fed and left him in front of the tv watching cartoons and jogged up the stairs to hop in the shower. It wasn't long before the doorbell rang and Max was jumping up trying to reach the handle shouting to let Finn in.

"Alright, alright, chill out. I'm coming" Alec puffed out as he dashed down the stairs, wet hair dripping all over the place. He twisted the lock and pulled the door open to reveal a very lively Finn and a very tired looking Magnus.

Finn leapt on Max and pushed him to the floor. "Finn! Be careful!" Magnus bellowed. Max didn't seem bothered, in fact he just rolled Finn off him on to the floor and got up to get his remote control car and drove it straight into Finn's head.

"Max, be nice"" Alec chided.

"Aren't they a pair. Uh, I'm so tired, I need coffee. " Magnus groaned out. Alec was leaning against the door edge just looking Magnus over. He really did look pretty exhausted.

"Let me make you one, make yourself at home." Alec said as he pushed Magnus softly towards the sofas. Max and Finn were sitting on the floor now playing with Max's train set so Alec stepped over them to get to the kitchen. He quickly made him and Magnus a coffee and went back over to the living area to sit down on the sofa next to Magnus.

They sat quietly and sipped at their coffees while the boys continued playing together. "Thank you so much for having us over, I don't know if I would've been able to last the day with him on my own. He's just go so much energy at the minute. That's why I'm hoping these swimming lessons will tire him out tomorrow. You're still coming right?" Magnus asked.

"Oh yea I forgot about that. Yea I guess we'll give it a go and see if he likes it." Alec agreed.

"Cool, it starts at 11 for an hour, so shall we meet at the pool at like 10.45. I find it takes at least ten minutes to get Finn ready" Magnus suggested.

Once that was decided they talked about their week and Alec asked for Magnus' opinion on the house. Magnus agreed that they were in a good part of town with good catchment areas for schools so he should try to stay around that area if possible but he didn't really know how it felt to lose parents. He'd never known his dad, but he couldn't imagine how painful it would be to lose his mum. He got Alec to open up a bit more about how he felt about his parents.

"Yea, it was six months since they died on Wednesday so I guess I'm used to it now but I still have times I think about it and it feels like the moment I was told they had died." Alec confessed.

"Oh Alec honey" Magnus murmured as he brought Alec into a tight hug, rubbing his back soothingly.

"I think I'm doing good with Max which is what's important. It's just all the ongoing stuff, like I keep finding things to deal with, stuff my parents didn't even tell me about.." Alec mumbled against Magnus' shoulder.

"Like what? You mean like legal or financial stuff? I know a lawyer and I'm sure the finances can be sorted. Seriously, if I can help in any way please let me." Magnus urged leaning away from Alec so he could show him how sincere he was.

"I don't know really to be honest. Simple things like my parents had some shares in what I think are dodgy companies but I don't know what to do with them. Should I sell them or keep them? Then the family insurance policy, I still have to change that. It's just stuff that I didn't think I'd need to have figured out by my age." Alec explained showing more frustration as he continued.

"Yea I get it, you're 20 right?" Magnus questioned.

"Yea nearly, on new years eve." Alec confirmed.

"Okay, so I think you're doing really well with all this. I'm 24 and I don't think I could handle anything like this if my mum died so give yourself some credit." Magnus said imploring Alec to believe him.

"Yea I do, I do." Alec accepted. "Good" Magnus said with a sharp nod of his head.

They continued to chat, talking about their childhoods and moving onto what they thought Max and Finn might grow up to be. It got to lunch and then nap time so they put Max and Finn to bed. When they got downstairs Magnus asked if he could make himself another coffee.

"Yea go ahead, or if you're really that tired why don't you take a nap. There's the spare room, although you might have to move some stuff to get to the bed, or actually forget that, you're welcome to my bed." Alec offered. Magnus stared at Alec, raised one eyebrow, then said "Don't tempt me" under his breath.

It was only then that Alec realised what he had said and of course his cheeks subsequently turned pink. Magnus sat down again on the sofa and just said "Just put a movie on or or something, I might snooze on the sofa." Alec was always surprised at how Magnus could say something so suggestive or blunt and then carry on as if nothing happened.

They put some action movie on and within ten minutes Magnus' eyes were drooping. Alec was feeling a little tired too but he watched the film for a while until Magnus' head fell lightly against his shoulder. He called Magnus' name a couple of times with no response so he deduced he was well and truly unconscious. Alec rested his own head back against the sofa and focused on the film again.

An hour later Alec felt something stirring beneath him. His eyes crept marginally open and he took a deep breath in. Something smelled amazing. He took another deep breath in. It smelled quite woody but sweet at the same time. He lifted his head and opened his eyes fully. Magnus' head was resting against his shoulder still and he turned his head to the side and rested his nose very lightly against the top of Magnus' head, it was his hair that smelled so incredible.

"Alec.." Magnus said softly. Alec didn't realise he was awake.

"Uhm yea" Alec responded.

"Did you just smell my hair?" Magnus asked, his voice raising at the end as he sat up straighter to look at Alec.

"Maybe... I just didn't know what that amazing smell was, I wanted to check." Alec replied sheepishly.

"Ha, it's this nice shampoo I have, sandalwood or something like that. It smells really good." Magnus explained.

XxX

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing happily with the boys and chatting. Alec offered to cook dinner for all of them which Magnus ended up helping with. After dinner Finn started getting really whiny and refusing to share toys with Max. Alec could tell Magnus was trying to hold his patience and after fifteen more minutes of this Magnus gave up and told Finn they were going home and he was going to bed early.

Max was looking a little tired anyway having been at Daycare all week and now also having another full day of play with Finn. Usually he'd have at least 2 or 3 days a week with just Alec which would usually be much less physical play time and often just days spent lounging on the sofa.

The friends said their goodbyes, the adults holding on a little bit longer to their hug than the kids did and then once Max was tucked up in bed, Alec fell into his own. It was only 8.30 but he was feeling so drained of energy he knew he would sleep. If Max would let him, he could probably sleep a full twelve hours he'd had that much of a tiring week.

XxX

Alec did sleep, actually over twelve hours, until 9 when his alarm went off and surprisingly Max was still asleep when he stuck his head round the door too. That was really rare for Max to sleep that late, he was usually up by 7.30 at the latest.

He got their breakfast ready and then went back upstairs to gather their swimming gear together into a bag and then woke Max up gently. He felt his forehead, if he slept this late maybe he was ill. He didn't seem to be hot and he seemed fine as he got up, still his happy and bouncy self. Or at least the happy and bouncy child he was becoming in Alec's care.

By the time Alec and Max got to the pool Max was just as excitable as he usually would be about seeing Finn so Alec really wasn't worried. They waited in the reception area for Magnus and Finn as Max leaned against Alec's legs, trying to step on to his shoes. That was Max's favourite thing at the moment. He would stand on Alec's feet and Alec would hold his hands and walk. At least it was an easy way to keep Max entertained.

Before long Magnus and Finn arrived and they went through to the changing rooms after paying for the swim lesson for the boys. Alec and Max were ready first so they went through to the showers, Max took baths at home so getting him under the shower spray was a little difficult but when he was under he seemed to be fascinated. Looking up at the spray as it hit his face. Maybe he was okay with water.

Magnus and Finn walked through to the showers just as Alec stepped under the spray. Alec recognised the caramel skin out of the corner of his eye and glanced over. His glance turned into full on staring as he saw what Magnus was wearing. He had speedos on. Not swim shorts, full on tight briefs which left absolutely nothing to the imagine. His ass, as usual, looked amazing, but Alec was surprised to see that the bulge filling the front of the speedos was rather large. His mouth watered, having that in him would feel incredible no doubt. Wait. Where had that thought come from? He was trying to be friends with Magnus, he shouldn't be having thoughts like that.

He tried to take his eyes away from the bulge, after some considerable effort they moved up Magnus' body. Alec knew that Magnus worked out some lunchtimes during the week but he had abs which Alec wasn't necessarily expecting. They weren't just a hint of abs either, it was a very pronounced six pack. Magnus was standing in front of them by this point and he had a giant smirk on his face.

"I think you might have some drool there Blue Eyes" Magnus chuckled out. Dammit Alec had been caught. What could he say? He was only human and Magnus was a work of art. Anyone would stare at him.

"Uhh, uhm" Alec replied looking down, trying to avoid Magnus' gaze. At least his flush could be blamed on the heat inside the pool area.

"Not looking so bad yourself." Magnus continued chuckling and moved over to the next shower. Alec thought about going through to the pool area but he didn't want to seem rude so he endured having Magnus shower next to him. This was really testing Alec and there was still an hour or more left.

Both boys loved the lesson. Max was just getting the idea of moving his arms and legs together when it came to an end and he didn't want to stop but Alec promised to bring him next week and that stopped his complaining.

On the way out Alec had to turn away in the showers and face the wall. He'd managed to get through an hour of seeing Magnus wet and glistening with his hair swept back from his face, he didn't think he could cope with another shower scene. God he was so gorgeous. He wanted that man so badly but he had to restrain himself, it wasn't fair on Magnus for him to be so up and down.

After they were dried off and back in reception Finn asked Magnus if Max could come over to play afterwards. Magnus just looked at Alec as if for permission to say it was okay. Alec gave a quick nod. He wouldn't mind another chilled out afternoon with Magnus whilst Max was being kept busy.

XxX

That night when Izzy got home they talked about Christmas. His parents used to allow them to have a tree but never any decorations anywhere else and they would just take them out to Christmas lunch at a restaurant but Alec thought it would be nice if they tried to actually make it together as a family this year. Max was three now and this would probably be the first time he would properly understand Christmas. Last year, he had enjoyed playing with new toys and having Alec and Jace back home again but he didn't really understand the significance of it. He was so young that they'd still had to help him with unwrapping his presents.

This year Alec wanted to make it feel more special for all of them. He wanted decorations all over the house, even if it was just some cheap tinsel and he wanted some proper home cooked food and for them all to play games and watch Christmas movies afterwards. None of them had ever gotten to experience that type of Christmas and he was planning to change that.

Izzy thought it was a wonderful idea and even offered to help with the cooking, which Alec politely declined saying Jace had already offered and someone would have to keep Max occupied and away from the hot things in the kitchen. He hadn't actually spoken to Jace yet but he knew he would be of the same opinion of Alec - that Izzy should be kept away from the kitchen at all costs. She could cook basic dinners, like beans on toast although one time she'd even burnt that, but when let loose in a kitchen she 'got creative' as she liked to call it and would add all manner of ingredients to things which would inevitably end up tasting awful.

Izzy showed childish excitement when Alec said she could hold the budget for the decorations and spend it how she liked. He was pleased about that, he hadn't seen Izzy's eyes light up like that for some time. The siblings discussed ideas and what presents they wanted to get for Max and then whilst Alec was in a great mood she mentioned his birthday and the fact that a new club had opened in town and they should actually go out and celebrate.

Alec said he'd think about it and then hastily went off upstairs as he'd _conveniently_ heard Max calling for him. Alec didn't really do birthdays, he didn't like being the centre of attention and he didn't want the fuss. But this was Izzy, and when Izzy wanted something then it usually happened.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Nice long one here... enjoy!**

* * *

Jace returned from college and Max was ecstatic. He practically clung to his leg the first day he was back. Alec enjoyed the break, usually it was him that Max would cling to but I guess having him around the whole time devalued Alec slightly. Magnus had invited him to see a movie that Saturday afternoon and Alec managed to slip out quietly without Max noticing he was gone.

"Hey Alec" Magnus called as he walked into the movie theatre and up to Alec staring at the ice cream counter.

"Hey, how are you? Feel like I haven't seen you all week. I did have a very enjoyable coffee date with your mum when Finn was off ill and she was looking after him though." Alec started off.

"Yea sorry I had another hectic week at work. As the office is closed for two weeks over Christmas we had a lot of projects to finish off... wait hang on, my mum gets a date with you but I don't? Blue Eyes you offend me." Magnus feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart and putting on a pout.

"Haha sorry, what can I say I have a thing for older women" Alec joked back and Magnus chuckled along too.

"How is Finn now? He was just asleep the whole time in his stroller when I saw him with your mum at The Coffee House on Thursday. He must have been really poorly, that's very unlike him." Alec inquired.

"Yea, I think he's still feeling it a bit, he's not quite back to his usual Duracell bunny mode yet." Magnus replied with a fond smile at his son's usual personality.

They'd already bought their tickets online so they just joined the queue to get popcorn and drinks as they talked. That moved quickly and within no time they were sitting down to the previews. It was a movie that Magnus wanted to see but thought Alec would like. It wasn't a rom com so Alec agreed.

As the movie started and the lights dimmed Alec went for a handful of popcorn, enjoying the salty taste and washed it down with a swig of coke. It was really nice to spend one on one time with Magnus without children around and get out of the house too.

He automatically reached down for another handful of popcorn to find it wasn't there and instead his hand was in Magnus' lap brushing against the top of his thigh. Alec withdrew his hand as soon as he realised but Magnus leaned over and whispered "Not that I didn't enjoy that but I put the popcorn on the floor between us cos this is a horror film and I get jumpy."

Magnus had stepped up his flirting again ever since Alec had kissed him on the cheek a couple of weeks ago. Magnus did in fact get jumpy and even occasionally cowered behind Alec's shoulder and grabbed his hand that was between them on the armrest. Alec wondered if Magnus had picked this movie for that very reason but found that he didn't really seem to mind.

After the movie had ended and they were walking out back to the parking lot Alec's phone rang.

"Hey Jace, what's up?" Alec greeted. Magnus gestured to Alec that he was going to pop to the restroom and when he returned the call was just finishing.

"Yea, okay, well I'll be home in a bit, see ya." Alec ended with.

"Oh, yea your brother is home now right?" Magnus asked.

"Yea, just got back this morning. Max is over the moon. It'll be nice to have us all together for Christmas." Alec answered.

"Yea, I'm looking forward to Christmas too, even though it's only the three of us. It would be great to meet him whilst he's back." Magnus declared.

"Yea, I'll see if I can set something up. I have a shift on Monday and Tuesday, but then The Coffee House is closed from then until the 27th. So maybe Christmas Eve, just like lunch or something?" Alec suggested, relieved that he worked for an independent coffee shop and not one of the chains which was pretty much open all year round and where he'd probably have to work Christmas day.

"Yea, sounds good to me. Anyway I better dash, my mum has her book club this evening so I better go release her from Finn duty." Magnus called whilst walking backwards towards his car after giving Alec a quick hug.

XxX

Alec did manage to organise the Christmas eve get together and even set up a group chat for everyone and asked them to bring a dish. They could fight it out themselves then. He'd invited Magnus' mum too, and asked Clary if she wanted to bring anyone. Magnus' mum was overjoyed to be asked and apparently spent the rest of the day telling Magnus how lovely she thought Alec was. Clary said all her aunts and uncles and cousins had arrived yesterday for Christmas and she actually just wanted time away from her family as they were already driving her crazy.

When everyone arrived, they all commented on how lovely the house looked with the fairy lights out the front and the wreath on the door. Izzy did a little twirl and took all the credit, which she thoroughly deserved. Alec had had a go at the lights but just strung them from one end of the gutter to the other, leaving them hanging down in the middle, which Izzy immediately took down and rehung around the front porch.

It was a lovely few hours with lots of good food and wine, a healthily competitive game of charades and glorious company. Magnus introduced his mum to everyone, including Clary who she'd actually met once briefly before. She kept them all topped up with food and wine, saying it was nice to have other people to look after other than Magnus and Finn.

Clary and Jace seemed to hit it off, spending much of the time huddled closely together on the sofa talking quietly. Finn and Max as always were a funny pair, trying to play their own game of charades with the adults and just ended up doing random actions and then it turning into dancing to the Christmas music playing softly in the background. Alec was so content to just sit there with a glass of wine and be surrounded by the people he loved.

Until Izzy, who even though only eighteen had already had two glasses of wine and was a tad merry, got everyone to vote about what Alec should do for his birthday. The two options however were to stay in and be boring or to go out and have fun. Obviously everyone voted for go out and have fun.

"So there's a new club opened a couple of months ago that my friends all say is really cool, and they are having a new years eve party, which of course is coincidentally Alec's birthday, so I thought we could all go there?" Izzy proposed.

"Couple of problems there Iz. Firstly, we're not old enough to get into clubs and secondly we can't all go, who is going to look after Max?" Jace pointed out.

Izzy started rattling off about getting fake IDs and finding babysitters when Magnus interrupted "Actually, I know the owner of that club so I could probably get you guys in and my mum just offered to look after Max as well as Finn."

"Are you serious?" Izzy shrieked.

"Yea, my friend Jem's family owns that chain of clubs, so I'm sure if I asked him he could put our names on the list" Magnus explained, pointedly looking at Alec when he referred to Jem as a friend.

"I really don't want to put you out Cathy. Really, it's alright we don't have to do anything, I don't really want to a fuss anyway." Alec said directly to Magnus' mum which everyone groaned at.

"Don't be silly dear, Max is a sweet little boy, I really don't mind. Besides, it's your birthday, you have to celebrate!" Cathy urged.

"That's settled then!" Izzy shouted whilst rubbing her hands together and everyone else cheered.

When the wine was finished, the food all eaten and the boys flagging, Magnus announced that he'd better head out. As his mum was getting Finn in the car, he hugged Alec and kissed his cheek, although so far back it was almost against his ear, then whispered a breathy "Merry Christmas Blue Eyes". Alec squeezed him a little tighter and then let go and went to hug Cathy too.

XxX

When it came to Christmas day Alec was just starting to relax properly, after having had a couple of days off work already. He was woken up by Max who was particularly affectionate and woke all his siblings up with a hug and kiss as their present. Max came back to Alec afterwards and they had a Christmas cuddle for a few minutes until Max got restless and apparently went to get Jace to wake up properly. Just as he could hear Jace trudging downstairs assumingly with Max in tow Magnus texted Alec.

 **Merry Christmas Blue Eyes. Have a great day x**

 **Merry Christmas to you too Magnus, and to your mum and Finn x**

That set Alec up in a great mood, not that he was in a bad one, but those little sweet texts from Magnus made him smile. It was nice to be thought of.

Alec laid in bed a little while longer just enjoying hearing Jace and Max downstairs and watching the tinsel Izzy had hung over his mirror twinkling until Izzy knocked on his door.

"Hey brother, fancy a Christmas coffee? It's this thing where I add like cinnamon and nutmeg and orange zest to it, it's good. I'll make you one" Izzy said at high speed and then just closed the door. Alec was up then, if Izzy was going to mess with any food or drink today it was most certainly not going to be his coffee, which was always black.

By the time Alec was downstairs and managed to wrestle Izzy away from the spices and make himself a very standard black coffee Max was shouting for presents. They exchanged gifts, well mostly watched Max rip open the wrapping paper on everyone's and then starting the cooking. Alec and Jace gave Izzy gravy duty so she at least felt like she was doing something but told her to "leave the men to the work" whilst she played with Max and kept him away from the hot pans and sharp knives they would have to leave around the kitchen.

By early afternoon the turkey was out of the oven and the siblings were sitting down to eat. Alec took a picture of his handiwork and sent it to Magnus who replied saying he could definitely cook that for him anytime. Alec was really proud of what him and Jace had achieved. It was so much nicer to feel a sense of accomplishment rather than just go out to a restaurant that served a standard Christmas dinner and cost a fortune.

Shortly after they ate they all feel asleep on the sofa together watching the Grinch in the evening. Alec carried Max upstairs and put him in his bed and then came down to talk with his brother and sister, they reminisced about previous Christmases, the ones they had as kids and decided that cooking together was a new family tradition. Never had Alec had such a nice Christmas.

The period between Christmas and New Year was fun too, although Alec had to work a couple of days. At least his shifts were with Clary so they weren't boring. It was great having Izzy and Jace around the whole time to help him look after Max, he didn't have to do every meal, bath and bedtime. But this would be coming to an end soon, Izzy started back her course on the first Monday in January and Jace was going back to college the weekend after that. At least they would all be around for his birthday.

XxX

When it got to his birthday Alec had never felt so special, not even when his parents were around and had brought him a car for his 17th. He was woken up with breakfast in bed at a respectable 9am by Jace. He ate that very leisurely, took a nice long shower and then went downstairs to find Izzy trying to stop Max from opening the presents on the floor. He didn't quite understand that all presents weren't for him yet, even though they'd tried to explain that at Christmas.

But when he sat down with him and asked Max if he could have his presents he happily set them one by one on Alec's lap. Jace had gotten him a dart board saying maybe he could let some of his sexual frustration out with that. To which Alec threw all the sofa pillows at him and then set Max on him too even after he'd surrendered.

Izzy had gotten him clothes, as she did every year. This year it was a smart dark blue lightly checked shirt with a band collar, which apparently was really fashionable at the minute. Alec actually liked it and said he'd wear it out to the club that evening.

Max had made Alec a card which was basically lots of different coloured squiggles, but he had kind of managed to write 'love Max' at the bottom, he recognised Izzy's writing on the rest of the page and threw a quick smile her way to show his appreciation.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet, the siblings played with Max and his new toys from Christmas and watched tv, until it was time for Izzy to go and drop Max off at Magnus' house. Jace and Alec got changed then had a beer together and played with his new dart board now Max wasn't around to get hurt by wayward darts.

Before long the doorbell rang and Jace went to get it whilst Alec took his turn. Clary came up beside Alec just as he was aiming his last dart. When he was done Alec turned to face Clary and was assaulted with a very flashy dress that reflected the light above his head. She sort of looked like a disco ball.

"Wow, you look gorgeous."Alec said just as the door opened for the second time and Magnus and Izzy walked in. Even if it was a bit too glittery for Alec's tastes Clary did look nice.

"Who looks gorgeous?" Magnus asked. "Me!" Clary said giving a spin so the dress she was wearing fanned out.

Izzy came over and inspected Clary's sparkly dress whilst Jace went to get Clary the glass of wine she'd asked for.

"Do I look gorgeous too Blue Eyes?" Magnus murmured as he sauntered over to Alec.

"Of course you do.."Alec assured under his breath with a small smirk. Magnus really did, he was wearing a cobalt blue satin blazer with a plain black slim fitting shirt underneath and a pair of very tight black jeans that were rolled up to graze his ankles, leading to a pair of blue suede dress shoes. His hair was spiked and he'd applied a bit of blue eyeliner which brought out his eyes.

"Oh, why thank you Blue Eyes, you're looking very handsome this evening too." Magnus teased then produced a small box from behind his back and handed it to Alec.

"What's this?" Alec asked.

"What do you think it is? It's a birthday present. Open it." Magnus urged. Alec made quick work of the paper and opened the box to reveal the top of a mug and just stared at Magnus.

"Well… take it out!" Magnus said taking the wrapping paper from Alec's other hand. Alec pulled the mug slowly out of the box to reveal a picture of himself and Magnus that they'd taken on one of their lunchtime walks in the park a few weeks ago. It had been a gloriously sunny day and Magnus had pulled him onto a bench and got his phone out and forced Alec to smile, saying he needed it for Alec's profile so it would show up when he called.

A grin formed on Alec's face. "That picture turned out great. Thank you Magnus this is lovely, you really didn't have to get me anything." Alec uttered.

"Don't be silly, it's your birthday I had to get you something even if it is small and almost novelty. I know you like coffee so I thought it was a good bet." Magnus justified.

Alec whispered a small thank you as he gave Magnus a hug and looked at the other side of the mug, it read 'Happy Birthday Blue Eyes! Love Magnus xxx'.

Just then Izzy said they better get going if they were going to make their dinner reservation for 7pm so Alec quickly let go of Magnus, placed the mug in the kitchen cupboard and walked back over to the others.

They took a stroll into town at a relaxed pace and had dinner at Taki's, this really popular Asian place in town. It was super busy so they had to wait a while to place their order but when the food did come it was delicious. As soon as they finished their dessert Izzy asked for the check and then dragged them all out of there as soon as it was paid and towards the club.

As Magnus had assured he could, all their names were on a list and they got in without having to queue or be ID'd. When they got in there the music was pretty loud but at least they were playing good music and Alec actually found himself swaying along whilst he waited at the bar to get a drink. He was standing there for almost five minutes before Clary and Izzy dragged him backwards towards the dance floor. He protested saying he hadn't gotten a drink yet but Jace just said he would buy him a beer and then pushed him through the crowd.

Clary was spinning him round playfully and forcing him to dance but Alec was more focused on Magnus and Izzy dancing together next to them. He knew Izzy was a good dancer, she'd been going out to parties and stuff since she was fifteen and he sort of assumed Magnus would be quite good due to his fairly flamboyant nature but he was surprised at how good he was. He was twirling Izzy, leaning her back and then kneeling in front of her working his way back up; if it was anyone other than his sister Magnus was doing that with he'd be jealous. Izzy was so not Magnus' type. Yes, they could probably be best friends if they spent more time together and were closer in age but they were too similar, it just wouldn't work.

Just as the song ended Jace came back with beers for himself and Alec in one hand and mixer drinks for the others in the other. They each grabbed their drinks off him and carried on dancing.

Magnus made his way over to Alec when Beyonce came on, strutting almost and then grabbed one of Alec's hands, turned around and ground his ass against Alec's crotch to the beat of the music. He kept hold of Alec's hand and spun back around to face Alec and moved in closer as the chorus came on.

 _They like the way I'm walkin'_

 _You saying that you want me?_

 _So press record, I'll let you film me_

Alec's head was a bit hazy, he wasn't sure if it was from the fact he was on his fourth bottle of beer or from what Magnus was currently doing. Magnus' free hand was all over Alec, sliding up and down the side of his thigh and then clinging to his shoulder or the front of his shirt as Magnus threw his head back belting out the words to the song.

All Alec knew was he needed to distance himself from Magnus slightly or it was gonna be plainly obvious to anyone, especially Magnus if he decided to grind against him again, how much of a good time he was having. Thankfully, after Beyonce a much less sexy song came on and the group came together again and danced in a sort of circle, as best they could in the busy club.

After a couple of hours of this and a few more beers Alec needed a break. He retreated to stand by the bar, getting a glass of water to quench his thirst and a couple of napkins to wipe his brow. It was packed and his shirt from Izzy was pretty thick and had long sleeves so he could feel the sweat dripping slowly down his back.

Just as he turned around to head back on to the dancefloor again he noticed some guy pulling Magnus off to the side of the club. Alec didn't really know what to make of that. His initial reaction was that now more familiar knotting feeling of jealousy in his stomach as he saw Magnus' hand in this other guys. However, Magnus had probably had just as many drinks as him but he was having spirits and cocktails which would be stronger than his beer so maybe he had just gotten caught up in the moment. That disappointed Alec a lot, Magnus had said he'd wait for him and he found he couldn't bear the thought of Magnus going home with someone else instead.

But then Alec looked more closely and could see that Magnus' face was scrunched and he was actually trying to get his arm out of this guy's grip. Just as the other guy opened the fire exit and dragged Magnus out Alec took off across the club, shoving people out his way as he went.

He burst through the door to see Magnus pushed up against the opposite wall with his arms squeezed in between his and the guy's chest and frantically trying to struggle out of the hold. Alec went over to them, grabbed the guy's shoulder and yanked him backwards and onto the floor.

Unfortunately he also pulled Alec down with him and a scuffle ensued, Alec getting caught in the face a couple of times but giving a solid effort in turn. After a few more punches Alec managed to throw a really heavy punch at the guy's face causing him to drop completely down to the floor holding his now bleeding nose.

Alec got up quickly, grabbed Magnus' hand and led him out of the alley to the main street where it was properly lit. He let go of Magnus' hand moving it to his shoulder checking him over and then brought him into a hug when he saw that apart from looking a little ruffled he didn't seem physically hurt.

"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?" Alec asked in Magnus' ear as he clung to him.

"No..I-I'm okay, just a bit shaken. Your face though, he hit you, let me see it." Magnus stepped back and looked at Alec's face, cupping his cheek, he had a couple of cuts on his left cheek and a bruise already forming. He was also soaking wet from where it had been raining earlier in the day and there was puddles all over the floor.

"I'm fine, completely fine. It's just a cut or two, I can clean it up. Let me take you home, assuming you don't want to stay?" Alec asked, his voice raising at the end in question.

"No, I don't want to stay but you're not taking me home, I'm taking you home. Those cuts on your cheek are probably worse than you think, you've got blood all down the side of your face and I saw you hit your head pretty hard on the floor so you might have concussion, I'm not letting you go home by yourself." Magnus said, running his palm down the side of Alec's face to his neck. Alec winced slightly and then just nodded admitting to defeat easily.

They took a slow walk home given that they were both a little worse for wear and had also had quite a few drinks by that point. When they got in Alec texted Izzy and Jace to say he and Magnus had gone home so they didn't worry.

After leaving their shoes by the door, Magnus led Alec into the downstairs bathroom, asked Alec for the first aid kit and then sat him on the closed toilet. He cleaned the blood off Alec's face and checked that he didn't have bleeding on the back of his head where it had hit the floor. Alec held his breath as Magnus used alcohol gel to clean his cuts and then asked Magnus once again if he was hurt anywhere.

"I'm fine, seriously. Now take your shirt off, it's soaked. I also need to check you didn't get cut on your back or arms anywhere." Magnus demanded. Alec unbuttoned and slid off his shirt without complaint, he could feel something painful on his back and he didn't want it to get infected if it was a cut. He had no idea what was in the water on the ground outside that club.

Magnus slowly checked Alec over, wiping the dirty water off his back with a towel and generally cleaning him up a bit. He knelt down in front of Alec and said "I think you've just got bruising on your back, there's no cuts or anything but look at me I want to see how good your responsiveness is."

Alec just rolled his eyes but looked at Magnus, answering silly questions about how old he was and how many fingers he was holding up and then following his finger from side to side as it was waved in front of his face.

Getting bored of this and knowing he was completely fine Alec playfully grabbed Magnus' finger to stop him and just said "I'm good really. I'm more worried about you, I could've killed that guy for touching you. Are you feeling less shaken now?"

"Yea, I feel better just being away from there and being here with you." Magnus replied.

"Good, that's good. Shall I make us a cup of tea or something?" Alec asked as he lowered Magnus' hand to his knee and went to stand up.

"Alec, wait, before you go anywhere I just want to say thank you properly. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come. Really thank you so much for saving me." Magnus said softly before he went up on to his knees and leaned round to give Alec a kiss on his cheek.

The feelings Alec had felt that night were all over the place, he'd felt so exhilarated just being around his friends, actually celebrating his birthday for once, and dancing with Magnus, then for a short time jealousy as he thought Magnus was going off with some guy to do who knows what and then fear and so much rage as he saw Magnus pushed up against the wall. Finally, he was feeling relief, that actually Magnus was feeling better and was safe. In that split second of thought he made a decision.

Alec turned his head to capture Magnus' mouth with his own, startling Magnus. He put more pressure against Magnus' lips and brought his hand up to rest against his neck, stroking his thumb gently up and down behind Magnus' ear. Before Magnus returned the kiss he pulled away and whispered "Is this okay?" Alec just nodded his head in reply and pulled Magnus' lips back to his own eagerly.

Magnus returned the kiss with fervour and brought his hands up to rest against Alec's bare chest and then, as it had last time, the kiss heated up pretty quickly and Magnus was running his tongue along Alec's bottom lip. Alec opened up and his tongue met Magnus' as his hand ran down to Magnus' upper arm and pulled, encouraging him to get up slightly. Then as Magnus was standing up, Alec grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him back down and onto his lap.

As Magnus straddled Alec on the toilet, Alec's hands circled round Magnus' waist and brought him closer. Their tongues fought for dominance as Magnus' hands explored Alec's chest and stomach. Alec moaned slightly into Magnus' mouth and then drew back and started placing open mouthed kisses under Magnus' jaw and then down his neck. Magnus threw his head back enjoying the sensations as Alec continued further down. When he reached Magnus collar he moved back up to Magnus' jaw and to join their mouths together again. The kissing continued until Alec voiced one word, "bedroom". He didn't fancy being caught by his brother and sister in a compromising position.

"Woah, let's stop right there mister. It went too far last time and you freaked out, I don't want to rush it this time round. Please let's just take it slow." Magnus murmured as he broke away from Alec's mouth.

"Uh uh. I want you." Alec responded breathily and brought his hands up to start unbuttoning Magnus' shirt. Magnus' grabbed his hands to stop him and forced Alec to look at him but Alec just stared him down.

"No, really. I didn't know you that well last time and I had so much on my mind then but now I know what I want and I'm sure about this.. Besides it's my birthday and I want you as my birthday present." Alec pleaded rather sultrily trying to get his hands out of Magnus' grip so he could continue.

"It might not be your birthday anymore, I don't know what the time is, it could already be January for all we know." Magnus replied cockily.

"Well in that case, happy new year Magnus." Alec said as he leant forward for another, much sweeter kiss. Alec wriggled his hands out of Magnus' hold and stroked his cheek instead.

"Please, I promise I'm fine. I won't freak out, I haven't so far have I and you've already got my shirt off." Alec argued with a grin on his face. He then looked at Magnus' seriously, said a quick "I promise" and then moved his hands to the back of Magnus' thighs and stood up moving to the door, whilst Magnus tried not to fall backwards.

"Okay, okay fine. But we're not going all the way, or even nearly all the way. Just put me down before you hurt yourself." Magnus pleaded whilst giggling.

"Deal" Alec giggled out too, let Magnus' legs unwrap from around his waist putting him down and then grabbed Magnus' hand and pulled him towards the stairs letting go briefly so they could both bound up the stairs. At the top Alec pulled Magnus into his bedroom, slammed the door closed and leant Magnus against it tenderly. After all he didn't want to evoke memories of earlier in the night.

He leaned forward slowly, brought his hand up to cup Magnus' face and captured his lips again. Within seconds their kissing was feverish once more, and Alec started unbuttoning Magnus' shirt. This time Magnus let him as his own hands started exploring Alec's torso again. Alec seemingly had very sensitive nipples so he started there rubbing them slowly as Alec tried to unbutton the last few buttons on his shirt.

"Ungh, stop, otherwise I won't be able to get this off you." Alec groaned out. Magnus let up slightly running his hands over Alec's broad shoulders instead and up to run his thumb over Alec's jaw as the kissing resumed. The final button came undone and Alec pulled Magnus away from the door, stripped his shirt quickly off him as he turned them and then pushed Magnus with a bit of force so that he stumbled back onto the bed that was only a few feet behind.

Magnus scrambled up the bed and Alec followed enthusiastically. Once they were both fully on the bed Alec placed his body over Magnus' and whispered in his ear "You're so gorgeous, I'm gonna worship you" and then sucked his earlobe into his mouth, causing Magnus to hum in response.

It was Alec's turn to explore Magnus' body now and he skimmed his fingers down Magnus' sides and then full on grabbed Magnus' ass and drove his hips downwards rubbing their now rock hard erections together. Both men let out a lustful moan and hungrily brought their mouths together again, tongues twining.

When they needed air Magnus immediately starting placing butterfly kisses across Alec's face and then rolled them over and dove down to begin sucking on his right nipple. Alec arched his back in pleasure and Magnus continued down, licking his way across Alec's abs until he reached the line of hair leading down. Magnus breathed in deeply inhaling Alec's scent. God he loved that musky manly smell.

As he descended further to the waistband of Alec's jeans he looked up at Alec's face. He really didn't want to push him too far, he wanted to do it properly with Alec. Magnus didn't really get a lot of time for dating, given he had Finn and a fairly demanding job so he made do with the occasional one night stand, although they often felt him feeling even more lonely. But with Alec he wanted the build-up, he wanted to take things slow. He would be completely fine sticking to kissing and touching. Well he would be, he wasn't sure about his dick.

Alec's face however, just stared at Magnus with eyes full of desire. He thrust his hand into Magnus' hair and started playing with it, seemingly trying to keep Magnus' head in that general area. Magnus put a stop to this by grabbing both of Alec's hands and then pushing them back behind his head on to the bed and holding them in place whilst his mouth descended on Alec's again.

Alec growled very slightly and rubbed his hips against Magnus' trying to elicit a stronger reaction from him. Within a few seconds Alec realised he was going to have to try harder and used his strength to roll Magnus onto his back and put his entire body weight down onto Magnus so they were connected everywhere. Magnus moaned quietly, it was a delicious feeling, having their chests and stomachs and groins completely touching. He could feel his resolve starting to crumble.

Alec attacked Magnus' neck and collarbone biting and then sucking to soothe the skin. He continued this down Magnus' washboard stomach and then brought his hands up to Magnus' belt. Magnus put his hand over Alec's and softly said "No mouth, just hands okay."

Alec gave a quick sound of confirmation and then undid Magnus' belt and the button on his jeans eagerly. He pulled the zipper down slowly as he continued his sucking on Magnus' stomach. Magnus had been having fantasies about this for ages and he found now it was finally here it was better than he imagined.

Alec was everything he wanted in a man. He was certainly his type, with pale skin and blue eyes and soft dark hair. He was super caring and chivalrous, which was hard to come by, and his mouth was currently working wonders going lower and lower as the zip was pulled down.

Alec patted Magnus' upper thigh to get him to lift up and pulled on the waistband of Magnus' tight jeans, pulling them over his hips. If it was possible Alec felt himself getting even harder as he realised that Magnus didn't have underwear on and he set about tugging the skin tight jeans down his legs until they were deposited on the floor next to the bed. He trailed light kisses up the inside of Magnus' legs until he reached his upper thighs and Magnus thought Alec might just ignore his words from earlier and was somewhat pleased about that even though he had promised himself that he would take things slow with Alec.

As he got higher and higher Magnus' eyes were closed in anticipation for what was going to come next when he felt a cool hand against his hip, and it wander closer and closer to it's final goal. Alec's hand grasped him finally and Magnus let out a sigh causing Alec to look up.

"Keep going gorgeous" Magnus rasped out. Alec took that as a good sign and started to stroke Magnus getting into a rhythm. As the rhythm picked up slightly his mouth continued its path from his upper thigh, across his pelvis and up to his hip where he sucked harshly on the skin there. Magnus loved the thought of being marked by Alec, giving him something to remember this night by until they could do it again, assuming of course Alec didn't regret this afterwards.

Magnus was driven out of that thought as Alec's mouth clamped around his nipple and he circled his tongue around it. By this point Alec was in a steadily increasing rhythm and Magnus felt his stomach start to spasm. Magnus was moaning in time with Alec's stroking now and Alec placed his mouth back on Magnus' to swallow them. With Alec's tongue in his mouth, his hand on his cock and his chest hair rubbing against his now very sensitive nipple Magnus felt the familiar tightening and broke away from Alec to warn him.

Alec picked up the speed even more and whispered for Magnus to come for him and that was all it took, he exploded over Alec's hand and his own stomach and cried out. Alec continued his ministrations throughout only slowing down when he felt Magnus' softening.

He removed his hand, wiping it against the sheets and kissed up Magnus' neck and jaw to his mouth where he delivered a sweet kiss. Magnus was still slightly breathless after but had the energy to kiss Alec passionately and then push him off him so he was standing up at the edge of the bed. Magnus set about Alec's jeans which were down within seconds being much less tight than Magnus' and then Magnus was face to face with a boxer covered bulge.

He licked his lips so badly wanting to take Alec into his mouth. Instead he yanked the black boxers down too and got Alec to step out of both the jeans and boxers at the same time. Once Alec had one leg out and almost the second Magnus tugged him quickly back down onto the bed next to him, Alec losing balance quite easily. Alec shook his leg to get the last bit of his jeans off whilst giggling and then launched his mouth to Magnus' resuming their passionate kissing.

Magnus' hands wandered slowly up and down Alec's back as they kissed facing each other on the bed. The skin on Alec's back was smooth compared to his front where he had quite a lot of chest hair and Magnus found his hand easily sliding down all the way to Alec's bum and lower to his thigh which he brought up to rest against his own hip.

Magnus let go of Alec's mouth and moved to give Alec his own mark on his shoulder, biting down lightly. His hand crept back down Alec's thigh and towards his bum cheek and his finger grazed Alec's crevice, sort of without meaning to. It obviously surprised Alec too because he flinched away from Magnus' touch.

"Sorry, it tickles" Alec uttered and then getting slightly inpatient grasped Magnus' hand and placed it where he craved it most. Magnus didn't waste any time and started stroking Alec pushing him onto his back so he could get a better angle. Magnus looked up at Alec briefly to see he was biting his lip. That was Magnus' weakness, that and hair pulling.

He moved down to also bite on Alec's lower lip and pulled it gently out of Alec's teeth's grip and ran his tongue along to soothe it. Alec was giving out small noises now and Magnus realised he really didn't know what his stamina would be like. He'd been having sex for nearly ten years but Alec was four years younger than him and apparently had only come out just under two years ago so he didn't even know if he was a virgin or not. He didn't usually have to worry about this sort of thing with the type of guys he usually picked up in gay bars.

He decided he'd slow down his stroking slightly just in case Alec didn't have a lot of stamina, he didn't want him to feel embarrassed if he came after only a few minutes. Magnus pushed his tongue slowly back into Alec's mouth and twined his leg with Alec's as he tried to make it a bit more sensual, he didn't want their first sexual experience together to just be some slightly drunken rough and ready hand jobs.

He traced his tongue along the back of Alec's teeth and the roof of his mouth and stroked his lower legs with his foot softly. Alec, however much he seemed to be enjoying it, really didn't have much patience though and moved away from Magnus' mouth and whispered for him to go faster. The time for sensuality was apparently over so Magnus picked up the pace again until Alec was gasping.

Knowing that Alec was going to come soon and being hugely turned on by the sight and thought of that Magnus ignored his own rules and kissed down Alec's chest and happy trail and then licked Alec's head causing him to gasp and grip the sheets until his knuckles turned white.

"Fuck" Alec said before gulping deeply. Upon hearing this Magnus removed his hand and took Alec into his mouth, pushing himself further down Alec's dick whilst he licked around it. One of Alec's hands found its way into Magnus' hair and pulled lightly. Magnus bobbed his head up and down, letting himself be guided by Alec's hand and in less than thirty seconds Alec was clawing at him trying to pull Magnus away, but Magnus ignored this and continued. The hair pulling really was just making him more determined. A few more seconds of hard sucking and Alec was releasing into his mouth.

Magnus waited until Alec was done and then swallowed. He pulled off Alec and then kissed up Alec's torso to his face to find him with his eyes closed and breathing softly.

"Come on Blue Eyes, I know that has probably tired you out but you can't sleep at the end of the bed." Magnus said as he tried to haul Alec up to the pillows. Alec was a bit taller and probably a few pounds heavier than him but he did sort of succeed, most likely with lots of help from Alec.

When both men were under the cover Alec rolled onto his side facing Magnus, put an arm around his waist and pulled him closer.

"I thought you said no mouths" Alec whispered out quietly. Magnus chuckled, gave Alec a kiss on his cheek and snuggled deeper into Alec's chest before replying "I set the rules so I'm allowed to break them."


	12. Chapter 12

Alec had pins and needles in his arm. That was the first sensation he felt as he woke up groggily. His other senses kicked in and he heard a noise next to him, and could smell a deep woody scent. His eyes opened very slowly and he craned his neck to the left to investigate. He was met with a head of black hair. Then his memories came back to him from the previous evening and Alec smiled.

That was the most amazing blow job he'd ever had and Magnus was now lying with his head in the crook of his arm and curled into Alec's side. There honestly couldn't have been anything that would make Alec wake up happier at that moment in time. Aside from maybe not having pins and needles.

Alec shifted on to his side so he was facing Magnus and tried to adjust his arm slightly so it was more underneath Magnus' neck rather than his face. It couldn't have been comfortable for him either. Magnus rolled so that his head was on the pillow instead and Alec quickly pulled his arm away not wanting to wake Magnus up. Alec turned onto his back again, flopped his arm down to his side hoping to get the blood flowing in it and then turned his head to face Magnus.

He looked so peaceful, his eyes closed and mouth slightly open. Alec couldn't resist running his hand softly down the side of his face. Magnus stirred slightly but didn't wake. Alec looked at the clock and realised it was only 8am, so decided to try to sleep more, he was usually up at this time with Max so he was going to make the most of it. Besides his body ached from all the dancing and also probably more so the fight he had gotten into. He closed his eyes, linked his hand with Magnus' and drifted off to sleep again.

An indeterminable amount of time later Alec felt something brush against his cheek and shook his head slightly because it was a little tickly. He stretched and then opened his eyes and looked down so blue met green.

"Morning Blue Eyes." Magnus said softly. Alec smiled at Magnus and murmured "morning" in reply and then brought his arm round Magnus back and pulled him into him. Magnus' response was to place butterfly kisses all along Alec's pec. Alec's eyes drifted closed again so Magnus leant up on his elbow and trailed his fingers of the other hand down Alec's side softly.

"Come on sleepy head... it's nearly 11….we should probably get up." Magnus said between further little kisses up to Alec's shoulder. Alec grumbled quietly, his eyes still closed but then slowly let his hand drop from around Magnus' back and pushed himself up so he was more upright against the headboard. Magnus moved with Alec so he was also sitting up.

"How do you feel?" Magnus asked. Alec peeped across at Magnus from where he still had his eyes closed, head resting against the headboard and replied "Mmm, marvelous thank you. That was the best birthday ever and it was all down to you" as he sat up properly, stretched his arms above his head and shifted so he was looking at Magnus straight on. He cocked an eyebrow and finished with "and your mouth" before pulling Magnus forward by his chin and guiding his mouth to meet his.

Alec nudged Magnus' mouth open with his tongue and pulled him across the bed by his hips so he was straddling him. Magnus let this happen for a minute or so but then pulled away from Alec.

"Not really what I meant but I am glad you enjoyed it. What I actually meant was how do you feel after the fight, does anything hurt really bad?" Magnus inquired.

"My cheek hurts a bit but I'm fine." Alec spat out quickly, then resumed their kissing, placing his hand behind Magnus' neck. Magnus gave in, he had already decided he loved kissing Alec, the feel of their tongues caressing and the noises they made along with the need to somehow be touching each other.

Alec's hand stroked softly down the curve of Magnus' back and he arched his own hips into him, their morning wood grazing.

"No, come on. We need to get up" Magnus said pointing his finger into Alec's bare chest. "I'm gonna shower, then we're going to see our boys." Magnus commanded and got off Alec and waltzed towards the open ensuite door. Alec got up quickly, trying but failing to pull Magnus back towards the bed then begrudgingly followed Magnus into the bathroom.

"Okay fine, but let me join you in the shower. I need one too." Alec almost begged.

"Alright but no funny business." Magnus agreed.

There was a little bit of funny business, but then again they both had morning wood and their make out session hadn't helped. After their shower, Alec brushed his teeth as Magnus went back into the bedroom to get dressed. Alec threw some clothes on when he'd dried off and offered Magnus a fresh t-shirt.

"Uhhh, I'm okay. I don't think they'd fit me properly and no offence but all I saw in your drawer just then was grey and brown and black. All colours I'm not partial to." Magnus laughed out.

"Okay you only wear colour, got it. Let's just go have a quick coffee then we can head off." Alec suggested, grabbing Magnus' hand and opening his bedroom door. As he lifted his head he was met with a mess of orange hair and pale skin. In Jace's shirt from last night.

"Clary?!" Alec shrieked in surprise. She just froze like a deer caught in headlights until her eyes spied Magnus; who was trying to hide behind Alec. "Magnus?!" Clary returned in the same voice but with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, no, no! Don't turn this back on us, why are you wearing Jace's shirt? … hang on, did you sleep with him?" Alec asked straight up.

"Uh... yea.. maybe" Clary squeaked out with her head down and her cheeks turning rosy. Alec stuttered trying to think how to respond whilst also still attempting to process what he was seeing.

"What! Your brother is hot!" Clary tried to justify. "Anyway, what is he doing here this early in the morning? And what happened to your face?" gesturing to Magnus and then waving her hand in Alec's face.

"It's not early in the morning, it's 11.30! And don't worry about my face, it's fine" Alec protested. Clary however, wasn't having any of it and she just looked at Magnus for her answers instead.

Magnus stepped out from behind Alec and Clary's gaze darted down to their connected hands. "Uhh, well this guy dragged me out the club and was being forceful with me and Alec pulled him off me and beat him up." Magnus explained.

"So you repaid him with sex?" Clary challenged, with a smirk on her face, looking straight at Alec again.

"No! We didn't have sex, uhm… Ugh I'm a grown man I don't need to answer your questions." Alec retaliated then just tugged Magnus' hand to follow him down the stairs. He heard Clary giggling as she closed the bathroom door.

They had a quick breakfast of toast and coffee, with Alec proudly using his new mug. Magnus was, of course, delighted at that. Then they were out the door, on their way to Magnus'. The car ride was in a comfortable silence until Magnus piped up "So, that wasn't just like a one time thing right?"

"No, no way. I-I...uhm, I really like you Magnus. Getting to know you properly over the last couple of months has made me realise that you're good for me... and for Max." Alec replied somewhat nervously.

"Okay, I just wanted to check... I really like you too Alec." Magnus reciprocated as he placed his hand over Alec's.

They pulled into Magnus' drive and walked up to the door hand in hand until Magnus had to get his keys out of his jacket pocket and open the door. It was nealry 1pm by that point so they knew the boys might be either eating lunch or down for a nap. There was no shouting or general noise so they assumed they were napping. They walked through to the kitchen to find Magnus' mum washing a cup in the sink.

"Hey Ma, thanks for looking after the boys." Magnus said strolling up to his mum and placing his arm around her.

"No problem honey. They're both asleep upstairs right now. They had a busy morning, I took them to the park." Cathy explained, now drying the cup.

"Ah thanks, bet they loved that." Magnus replied as he stepped away. Cathy put the cup she had just dried away in the cupboard, turned round and then gasped "Alec, honey, your face!"

"Oh, no I'm okay really, it looks worse than it is." Alec tried to convince her but the look on her face just got worse as she came closer.

"No, come here. Let me see. What happened?" she fussed as she brought her hand up to Alec's cheek.

"Ma, I cleaned it already yesterday, the bruising has just come out overnight so it looks bad." Magnus explained whilst he just pulled his mum's wrist away from Alec's face gently.

"I see so that's where you've been. Well, as long as you're both okay" Cathy said eying them both with raised brows.

"Ma, we're fine. Alec just rescued me from some jerk who couldn't take no for an answer." Magnus said ignoring his mum's comment about where he'd been. She'd had many times before where he hadn't come home, she wasn't some old clueless woman. Magnus looked to Alec and saw his scarlet cheeks.

"Anyway, thank you so much for looking after them, you can go home and rest now." Magnus urged, steering his mum out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

"Okay, well I know when I'm in the way. I'll see you later" she said pulling her coat off the hook. Magnus hugged her and practically forced her out the door.

"Sorry about that, she can be a bit overbearing sometimes." Magnus apologised to Alec after he'd shut the door and was walking back towards him.

"No, don't be silly. It's sweet she cares." Alec replied, thinking that his mum wouldn't have been concerned at all if it was one of his friends that had a cut up face.

"Yea, she really does care. She likes you." Magnus told Alec as he pulled him along by his hand into the kitchen and started rooting through the fridge.

"Do you want some lunch? Or a drink?" Magnus asked Alec.

"Yea, sure, just something easy is good. And a glass of water would be great. I think the hangover is rearing its head."

Magnus poured two glasses of water, handing one to Alec then whipped up a couple of ham sandwiches within a few minutes. Magnus handed Alec a plate and then said he was going to go upstairs to put some more fresh clothes on before he ate, considering he still had the shirt and skin tight jeans on from the night before. He wandered off upstairs into his room and went over to his wardrobe to take out a looser pair of jeans and a t-shirt. When he turned round Alec had appeared.

"Hey, I...err thought I could help you." Alec said unsurely but with the sexiest tone he could manage, as he walked over to Magnus.

"Alec. I'm 24, not 3 like Max, I can dress myself." Magnus said frankly, not really cottoning on to Alec's suggestiveness.

"Well, yea I know, but this is more fun" Alec replied as he pulled Magnus towards him by his belt loops. Not waiting for a response, he launched his mouth onto Magnus' and then started fiddling with the buttons at the bottom of Magnus' shirt.

Magnus squeaked as Alec bit his bottom lip whilst pushing him towards the nearest wall. As they reached the wall, Alec released his hands from Magnus's shirt, took both Magnus' hands from his sides and held them above his head against the wall. He moved both Magnus' hands in to one, and resumed his unbuttoning, as his tongue fought with Magnus'.

Magnus' shirt was quickly undone and Alec pulled away from Magnus' mouth to trail soft kisses down his neck as he lowered Magnus' arms and slipped the shirt over his shoulders. Magnus pulled one sleeve over his hand at a time as Alec's soft kissing turned into sucking when he reached the bottom of Magnus' neck.

Magnus breathily moaned Alec's name and then brought Alec's head back up to meet his mouth. Alec moved his hands from where they were gripping Magnus' now bare waist down to the button on his jeans.

"Uh uh, nope. You aren't getting in my pants again until you've taken me on a proper date." Magnus asserted as he pushed Alec away from him gently. Before Alec could process what had happened Magnus was halfway across the room grabbing his fresh jeans from the bed and as Alec opened his eyes and turned round all he saw was a flash of caramel skin and then heard a lock engage. He groaned quietly in frustration, he was basically a teenage boy after all, and trudged back downstairs after poking his head into Finn's room to check on the boys. At least Magnus had mentioned a date!

They ate their sandwiches at the small kitchen table and told each other about their Christmases, as they hadn't really had a proper chance to do that yet. Then they moved to the lounge and Magnus put some fashion documentary on which Alec wasn't particularly interested in, so he just pulled Magnus to him, so his chest was against Magnus' back and fell asleep. The water and food hadn't exactly cured his hangover. Not that it was too bad, he had had seven or eight beers which wasn't usually enough to give him a killer hangover but he did still have a bit of a headache.

The next thing he knew Max and Finn were standing in front of them shouting "Daddy" and "Alec" over and over again and prodding them. Magnus draped his legs off the sofa and then sat up causing Alec's arm to fall away and there to be space for Max and Finn to climb onto the sofa. Alec was awake now, and he grabbed the nearest boy to him and tickled. High pitched squeals resonated round the room and Magnus then grabbed Max and tickled him too so he didn't feel left out.

Eventually the boys wriggled so much that Magnus and Alec had to put them on the floor for fear of dropping them and they scurried off away continuing to giggle. Magnus looked down at Alec put his hand on his chest and said quietly "Maybe we should be more careful, luckily your hand was just around my chest this time."

Alec nodded and then said aloud "Thinking about it they probably just thought we were top and tailing like they do."

Alec sat up too, downed the rest of his glass of water and then thought about leaving. He didn't really want to but he also didn't want to come across as clingy or something. Besides he should get Max home. He told Magnus he would get out of his hair shortly, to which Magnus just tutted and said he was always welcome.

"Come on Max, time to go home." Alec called as he stood up. Max ran over to Alec and pulled him by the hand to the front door where his shoes were. Alec crouched down to help him put his shoes on, checked everything was in his spiderman backpack and then put his coat on him. Finn launched himself at Max when Alec was finished and gave him a big hug. Magnus took that moment whilst the boys were occupied to lean over them and give Alec a brief kiss on the lips.

Alec opened the front door and guided Max out, telling Magnus and Finn to stay inside as it was cold out. Before Magnus closed the door behind them he called a quick bye to Max who had walked off ahead ready to get in the car and a much quieter "See you later gorgeous" to Alec, who just turned round with a grin on his face before he followed Max to the car.

XxX

When he got home there was no sign of Clary and apparently not of Izzy either. He set Max up with a colouring book at the dining table and sat down with Jace and a cup of coffee.

"So Clary huh?" Alec started. Jace didn't even look up from his phone but just replied with a simple "Yea, she's hot." One night stands or flings were much more Jace's style than Alec's.

Alec eyed Jace from across the table and said "She's my friend, don't hurt her." Jace just scoffed and replied "You don't need to worry, she was the one that told me it was a one time thing cos I was at college and she just wanted some new years eve fun." Alec laughed at that, that sounded about right, Clary was not the damsel in distress type.

"Yea, she can be a feisty one." which caused Jace to laugh too. Alec sipped at his coffee letting the warmth go through him and the caffeine seep into his bloodstream. Just as Alec reached the bottom of his mug the door opened and Izzy walked in wearing last night's bright red dress. Alec and Jace looked up at the same time, Alec's a face of horror and Jace with a smirk.

"So all three of us got laid last night then." Jace chuckled out. Both Izzy and Alec turned to Jace shouting "What?" at the same time. Jace looked between the two of them, and started to explain "Well Izzy you're wearing last night's outfit and coming in at a nearly 4pm. I got with Clary and you slept with Magnus." Jace finished gesturing to Alec.

"You slept with Magnus?" Izzy shrieked at the same time Alec very loudly denied it.

"That's not what Clary told me." Jace retorted.

"Well she's wrong, cos I didn't sleep with Magnus." Alec reiterated.

"Why are you being so defensive Alec?" Izzy said as she walked over to him and poked his shoulder. Alec just batted her hand away and scowled.

"Yea Alec, why are you being so defensive? And why would Clary lie to me about seeing Magnus coming out of your bedroom with you this morning?" Jace continued tormenting Alec and joined in the poking from across the table. It was like when they were all young kids and just wanted to annoy each other and get a rise out of one another.

"Okay, okay fine. I didn't sleep with Magnus but he did stay over" Alec admitted.

"Ooooh, did you guys actually just sleep orrr..? You're blushing Alec! Come on spill." Izzy squealed.

"No" Alec replied and pretended to drink more of his already finished coffee.

"Oh come on, you know I won't leave you alone until you tell me what happened" Izzy pushed.

"Fine... I got a blow job" Alec mumbled under his breath, he knew Izzy could easily sit there for an hour nagging until she got the info out of him, he may as well just skip that part.

"What was that Alec? You got a blow job?" Jace teased. "And how was it?" Izzy interrogated.

"Amazing. Now let's stop talking about it." Alec grumbled.

"About time, there had been so much sexual tension around you two it was gonna come to a head at some point." Izzy congratulated.

"Ha, come to a head. Nice one Iz" Jace chuckled as he looked back down at his phone. Then looked back up again "Anyway, who did you sleep with? I just lost you in the club, had no idea where you went. Then I got distracted with Clary." Jace questioned.

"Oh my god, I met the most incredible guy. He treats me so nicely, he even took me out for brunch before he walked me back here." Izzy gushed. Alec just got up as Izzy started talking about her experience the night before, it was his younger sister he didn't really need to know the amount of detail she was bound to go into. As long as she was happy and safe it was fine.

XxX

That night when Alec was in bed, he decided to text Magnus. He really wanted to reassure him that he wasn't going to freak out again.

 **I really enjoyed our night (and morning) together. So an actual date soon? x**

Alec's phone buzzed pretty much straight away and he looked at it eagerly.

 **Me too Blue Eyes. Thank you again for being my sexy knight in shining armour. Yes an actual date! Otherwise no more hanky panky x**

Alec laughed at that, Magnus was so flamboyant sometimes. It was something he really liked about him, part of his personality.

 **I guess I'll get my act together then ;) x**

They texted a little while longer then Magnus called it a night as he had to be up early for a meeting in the morning. Alec fell asleep easily and dreamt of ideas for his and Magnus' first date.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Apologies for the delayed updating - December is super busy for me at work then Christmeans means family time so I'm only just getting time to sit down and write. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning Alec left Max with Jace. He was going to take Max to the park and try and teach him some soccer, or at least to kick a ball to start with. He apparently wanted Max to be good at sports and he didn't trust Alec or Izzy to foster that attitude in him. It was great having Jace home, he would really miss him when he had to go back to college.

Alec was in such a good mood when he got to work for his shift. He walked into the staff room humming away to himself, and went to collect an apron off the peg.

"So you're in a good mood. Why might that be?" Clary asked, her voice raising into a sing-song voice at the end and a smirk appearing. Alec just shushed her.

"So are you guys like a thing now? Or what?" she continued, staring at Alec waiting for him to talk.

"Erm... Maybe? We agreed it wasn't a one off and that we'd go on a proper date soon." Alec explained unsurely. It really depended on what Clary considered 'a thing'.

"Ah, cool, so what you gonna do for your date?" Clary asked.

"I have no idea." Alec huffed as a he sat down on a stool. "I thought about dinner and a movie, classic first date territory, but we've sort of already done that as friends and it's a bit cliche. I want to do something different and memorable."

"Yea I get that. You guys have taken wayyy too long to get to this point, so you deserve an epic first date." Clary snickered.

"I'll keep thinking. Come on, let's get out there." Alec sighed as he pushed the door open.

XxX

They had a fun shift, it was really quiet, probably because it had now started snowing. Alec hoped that if Jace did take Max out that he made sure he was wrapped up properly. It was so quiet at one point the coffee shop was empty and it was just those two on shift, so they just sat around chatting and drinking coffees.

"Remember that my show is opening next Friday until the following week, but next Friday they are having champagne and nibbles and a meet the artists thing so you should come to that if you can." Clary reminded Alec.

"Clary! You're a genius! That is the perfect first date! Sophisticated, like it's fancy enough that we can dress up nice for it. Magnus would love it." Alec exclaimed.

Clary just bowed as best she could sitting at a table. Alec felt much better now that he had an idea for his and Magnus' first date.

Just as Alec was getting to the end of his shift Zach walked in to take over. "Hey Guys. Quiet today huh? It's settling properly out there now so I doubt we'll get much business." He said as he saw Clary and Alec sitting around.

"Yea, it's been dead. Less than ten people all morning, do you still want me to stay til closing?" Clary asked looking hopeful. Alec knew she still had a piece to finish for her show so she was probably keen to get on with that.

"Nah, get outta here. And if it's still snowing tomorrow then don't bother coming in, Alec and I can man the fort." Zach instructed.

Clary threw a quick thanks Zach's way and then they both got their stuff and went out the back door to the staff car park.

"See you tomorrow or later in the week then probably. You have a shift basically every day this week right?" Clary asked as she opened the door to her car which was parked next to Alec's.

"Arghh, yes. Just Sunday off." Alec confirmed as he held her door open for her as she got in.

"Cool, see you at some point then unless this snow doesn't stop." Clary said drawing the car door closed. "Yea, drive safe." Alec bid Clary as he waved slightly just before the door shut.

XxX

After a very slow drive home, Alec walked in the door and was met by a very excited Max.

"Alec, snow!" Max shouted as he jumped up and down in front of Alec.

"Yea buddy. Snow! Has Jace taken you out in it?" Alec asked mimicking Max's excitement.

"Yea, we kicked a ball and threw snow." Max continued shouting, but was now getting out of breath. Alec just chuckled at his little brother. Everything was so new and amazing to a three year old but to Alec the snow was more of a nuisance.

Alec hung his coat and scarf up and bent down to pick Max up, stroking his hair and blowing a raspberry on his cheek. Max burst out laughing and tried to do the same to Alec but just sort of ended up licking his cheek. Thankfully it wasn't his bruised cheek.

Alec set Max down on the floor again and walked over to Jace who was rummaging around in the fridge. He needed something for lunch himself, he didn't get a lunch break when he only did a four hour shift so it was now nearly 1pm and he was starving. Just as Alec and Jace set about making lunch side by side Jace piped up "You've done such a good job with him bro. He seems so much livelier but like settled at the same time. Even more so than before when your parents were around."

"Ah yea thanks Jace. It's so good to see right, he's just like a happy little boy now. It's actually pretty rewarding, parenting that is." Alec replied beaming.

"Oh yea, practice for when you and Magnus have kids huh" Jace turned to Alec laughing as he stuffed half a sandwich in his face. Alec blushed, shook his head and walked off with his own sandwich leaving Jace standing there singing "Alec and Magnus sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.."

XxX

Alec, Max and Jace had such an enjoyable afternoon together. Max had begged and begged until Jace and Alec agreed to take him out again to play in the snow. The big boys got into a snowball fight and then chased after Max with snow in their hands pretending they were going to drop it on his head. They were out for at least an hour and then Max made snow angels and Alec took him home after that and got him straight into his pyjamas and out of the wet clothes.

Jace was doing the bedtime routine and Alec had the tv on in the background but he was daydreaming about his first date with Magnus. The art show was on from 7.30, so maybe they'd do that first, then go out for dinner or something. He decided to text Magnus to let him know he had an idea.

 **I think I have a good idea for our first date. Are you free next Friday? X**

 **I can be free for you any day of the week Blue Eyes. What you got planned? X**

 **That's a surprise. For me to know and for you to find out x**

 **Oooh a surprise, I am intrigued. Are you working tomorrow? I miss you, let's have lunch x**

 **I am indeed. All day. Lunch about 12.30 as usual? X**

 **Perfect. See you then. Right I better get Finn in bed, text you later x**

Alec focused on the tv more easily after that and when Jace came down they found some car programme they both liked watching and settled into that.

XxX

The next day the snow had mostly stopped falling but it was now a few inches high so Alec doubted they'd be a lot of footfall in the coffee shop again. When he got to work Clary was nowhere to be seen so he assumed Zach had told her not to come in. Then again, he couldn't see Zach either. He got his apron on, put his stuff in his locker and set about warming the coffee machine up.

"Oh, morning Alec. Thanks for making the trip in." Zach greeted.

"No worries I just walked, seemed safer than driving." Alec commented.

"Yea, we wouldn't want a pretty thing like you getting hurt now would we?" Zach said, threw a grin Alec's way and walked over to start restocking the sandwich cabinet. Zach's flirting still hadn't let up. Luckily, most of the time Alec was on shift with Clary or someone else, or it was too busy with customers to have any time to talk to each other, so he just had to tolerate it when those circumstances weren't in his favour.

A little before 12.30 Magnus walked in with a red nose, it really was cold out there. The shop had two customers at one of the tables but aside from that it was empty so Alec had just been doing a bit of a stock take most of the day in the back which was mind numbing work. He'd realised the time and come back through to the front soon after Magnus walked in.

"Hey, what can I get you?" Zach asked automatically. Magnus looked at Zach and then Alec who had just walked through the curtain.

"Erm, him?" Magnus said pointing at Alec. Zach chuckled and replied "I'm afraid this one's not for sale but I can do you a coffee."

Alec walked round the counter and gave Magnus a quick peck on the lips. "Hey babe, I was thinking since it's so cold and kinda like an ice rink outside now, do you want to just stop for something here?" Alec grinned. Babe? He'd never been one for pet names but it just felt completely natural then. He liked being able to call Magnus babe.

"Yea, that's a good idea." Magnus agreed, pulling Alec by his hand to the sandwich fridge. They picked out a sandwich each and Alec made them a couple of cappuccinos as Magnus chose a table in the corner.

The pair chatted quietly in the corner whilst having their lunch. Magnus tried to get Alec to tell him about his plans for their date but he refused saying he really wanted it to be a surprise and he would only tell Magnus the dress code and time he would pick him up. The coffee shop was ridiculously quiet, it was now only Alec and Magnus there as the previous couple had left. Alec was debating asking Zach if he could go home early since he'd basically done everything he could and the customer numbers didn't look to be increasing. It seemed pointless to pay him for standing around.

"Who is that guy? Your coworker?" Magnus whispered to Alec across the table, nodding his head discreetly towards Zach who was leaning against the counter.

"Oh no. He's my boss. He owns the place but does a shift now and then to keep an eye on us." Alec chuckled.

"So it's not weird for him to be watching us?" Magnus asked.

"Maybe he's just looking at you" Alec complimented. Magnus did sometimes attract attention, although not usually when he was in his work wear, it was usually only when he jazzed himself up on the weekends.

"Aww you're sweet but I don't think it's that." Magnus continued. Alec reached across the table to lay his hand on Magnus'. He didn't want to tell him about Zach's flirting. They hadn't even had their first date yet he didn't want something to get in the way already.

"Just ignore him. Anyway is the boys swim class on again on Sunday?" Alec asked. Magnus looked back at Alec properly.

"Yea, back after the Christmas break. Are you going to bring Max again?" Magnus replied.

"Yea, I will. Do you want to have lunch or something after, perhaps let the boys have a bit of a play in the afternoon? Max won't be at Daycare all week cos Jace is home, so they'll probably be pining for each other by Sunday." Alec chuckled, he really found Max and Finn's friendship so adorable.

Just as Magnus opened his mouth to respond Zach walked over to their table. Alec assumed it was to clear their now used coffee mugs but he just stood there until Alec and Magnus looked up at him.

"You going to introduce me to your boyfriend Alec?" Zach urged, as he eyed their joined hands on the table.

"Uhm, yea... This is Magnus. Magnus this is Zach." Alec introduced them awkwardly looking for Magnus' reaction at the fact he didn't correct Zach on the usage of the term boyfriend. Magnus stuck his hand out politely waiting for Zach to shake it but instead Zach just looked to Alec and said "Less than five minutes of your break left then back to work alright" and then walked off to the back room.

"Well, that was rude." Magnus commented. Alec nodded his head to agree, he didn't know why Zach was being so strict with him, he wasn't usually and today was not a day where he exactly needed to be back behind the counter to serve customers.

"Anyway, I would love to have lunch on Sunday. Great idea. Finn already seemed fed up that Max wasn't at Daycare yesterday." Magnus said bringing the conversation back to more fun topics.

They talked about plans for the rest of the week, it was already Wednesday as Monday was new year's day so a holiday. Alec had to work every day and Magnus had a lunchtime meeting on Thursday and a deadline for Friday so he didn't think he'd make it out of the office until late. Saturday was the last day Jace would be at home so Alec wanted to spend time with him, so it seemed they wouldn't get to see each other again until Sunday.

"Right, I had better get back to work. I know it's dead but I can find something to occupy me." Alec said as he let go of Magnus' hand and pushed himself up from his chair.

"Okay, I've probably had nearly an hour anyway. So see you Sunday?" Magnus asked, just to confirm that was definitely the earliest they could see each other again.

"Yea, sorry, seems that way. I've got my art class tomorrow, you're at work all day Friday and I should really spend the day with Jace on Saturday at least when I'm not working." Alec said sadly.

"No worries gorgeous, we'll just have to make up for it on Sunday." Magnus said playfully before he wiggled his eyebrows and brought his hand behind Alec's neck to bring him in for a kiss. Alec melted into Magnus' touch enjoying the moment. There was no-one around, they weren't going to offend anyone, a bit of PDA wouldn't hurt. Not that you could call it that as there was no-one to see their 'public display'.

Magnus tugged Alec closer by his shirt as their tongues brushed against each other. Magnus' hands were moving down Alec's sides and round to his back and lower when someone cleared their throat behind them. Alec broke away quickly, really not being one for actual PDA. He looked at Magnus who was just wiping the back of his hand across his mouth and had a smirk developing, and then round behind him to see Zach holding a packet of napkins.

Magnus just smiled, gave him a quick peck and left to go back to work. Alec turned reluctantly back around to Zach who was now restocking napkins into the holders even though Alec had already done that earlier in the day and they hadn't been used since. If he overstuffed them the customers wouldn't be able to pull any napkins out anyway.

"Do you uhm, want me to do that?" Alec asked. Zach just sighed heavily and slowly turned round to Alec.

"When were you going to tell me you had a boyfriend?" Zach pried.

"Well, uh, he's not technically my boyfriend. Not yet. We kind of only got together over the weekend. Why do you ask?" Alec said feeling quite confused. Why was this important to Zach?

Just then some customers actually walked in so Zach just said it wasn't important and Alec had customers to serve. Alec spent the rest of his shift watching Zach, his body language had changed. He seemed kind of annoyed with Alec, giving one or two word commands or answers.

Alec wracked his brain for something he might have done, the only thing he could think was that he had sorta kissed Magnus a bit too racily whilst he was at work. Perhaps that was unprofessional, but there wasn't anyone around, at least no customers so it wasnt that big of a deal in his eyes. Zach told Alec to go home a couple of hours early which he gladly did. He'd much rather be at home with Max and Jace than there feeling awkward.

XxX

The days moved pretty slowly for Alec, the snow was on and off so there were very few customers in the coffee shop. Luckily he didn't have any more shifts with Zach.

It was Sunday morning and Alec was excited to see Magnus. Nearly as excited as Max was to see Finn. Apparently being around adults all week was not the most fun for a three year old. Alec knew Jace would have tried to entertain Max as best he could but it was never going to be as stimulating as being surrounded by twenty or so other kids and nearly every variety of toy you could ask for at Daycare.

Jace was leaving that morning to make the drive back up to Syracuse, so they had a family breakfast, with a very tired Izzy who had seemingly been out on the town the night before and a very loud Max, which didn't go together very well. Alec was glad to get Max out of there since Izzy seemed to be taking her hangover out on him. Poor kid, it wasn't his fault, he didn't understand why Izzy was angry.

They got to the pool and Magnus and Finn were already there. Max let go of Alec's hand and ran up to Finn as soon as he saw him. Alec was tempted to do the same to Magnus but restrained himself.

"Hey little man Max. Hey Blue Eyes" Magnus called as Max sprinted up to them. Alec reached him and went in for a kiss until Max looked up at them so he resorted to a quiet hi to Magnus. Magnus just smiled at Alec and they walked through to the changing rooms. Magnus made a joke to Alec about repaying the favour for Monday and helping him undress, but then their respective boys dragged them into different changing rooms before Alec could even entertain the idea of that happening.

Once they hit the showers Alec and Magnus could barely keep their eyes off each other. Drool may actually have dripped down the side of Alec's mouth.

The swim lesson went well again, Finn was definitely making the right motions, even if it was doggy paddle and Max again got his legs and arms going in a sort of rhythm, just not quite in the right directions. What could you really expect from three year olds. At the end of the class the teacher let the kids sit on the side and 'jump', which was more of a face dive, into their awaiting parents hands. The boys loved it and Finn even asked if they could switch so Alec could catch him.

Once they were back at Magnus' the boys had a very quick lunch of some simple pasta and then were put down for a nap, all that swimming and jumping had worn them out. As soon as they were out for the count Alec pulled Magnus away from his route towards the stairs and instead into his bedroom across the hall.

Alec closed the door quietly and turned round with a predatory stare towards Magnus. He strode over to him and pulled him by the front of his shirt towards him and then towards the bed. Alec stepped slowly backwards until he felt the edge of the bed behind his knees and then fell onto the bed, dragging Magnus with him.

As soon as he was down and Magnus was steady he brought his hands up to Magnus' hips, pushing his thumbs into the top of his waistband and pulled Magnus against him. Their lips found each other quickly and their groans and moans could be heard throughout the room. Alec could feel himself hardening, it really didn't take much from Magnus.

Magnus dropped one arm down onto his elbow to support himself and brought the other one to the hem of Alec's t-shirt and slipped his hand underneath grazing the side of Alec's abs. Their kiss got more frenzied as Alec skimmed one hand up Magnus' back and pushed his hips up to meet Magnus' as his other hand brought Magnus' hips down.

Magnus withdrew his hand and sat up quickly, leaving Alec chasing down his mouth and then tugged Alec's t-shirt up his body. Alec cottoned on quick enough and raised his arms above his head making it easy for Magnus to rid him of his shirt. As soon as it was off Alec set about tackling Magnus' shirt. Magnus wasn't usually just a t-shirt sort of guy, his clothing had zips or buttons or other more complicated fastenings that Alec had to deal with.

Once it was open, Alec pulled it quickly out of the waistband of Magnus' jeans and trailed his hands up Magnus' sides, pulled him back down and resumed the kissing. Magnus started grinding his hips down into Alec's and Alec quickly matched the rhythm.

Within seconds they were both rock solid and their kisses were getting sloppy. Magnus pulled away to draw a line of kisses down from Alec's shoulder to his chest.

"You are so unbelievably sexy" Magnus murmured as he continued to kiss any bare skin he could and went for Alec's jeans. Alec scoffed and dragged Magnus back up his body and whispered in Magnus' ear "I thought we weren't allowed in each other's pants until our first date" whilst Magnus latched onto his neck. The sensation of Magnus sucking on his neck was such a turn on he unconsciously started up the grinding again.

"I told you I make the rules and I can break them" Magnus cockily remarked and then resumed his sucking. Magnus was surely going to leave a mark on his neck but Alec really couldn't find it in him to care.

Magnus brought one of his hands up to brush against Alec's nipple and their grinding rhythm increased. Alec let out a rather loud moan at the sensation of his nipple being tweaked and Magnus drew away from Alec's neck to his mouth to silence him. Thrusting his tongue into Alec's mouth as soon as he was there. He couldn't get enough of Alec, he'd waited for this for months and now he had him. He'd promised himself he'd try to go slowly but Alec was irresistible.

The friction of still having jeans and boxers on as well as the faster rhythm they had now set was obviously doing something as all of a sudden Alec felt that familiar feeling in his stomach. Magnus was still playing with his nipple and after an unexpected rather sharp pinch, Alec found himself shooting off. He stopped kissing Magnus properly instead just letting their breath mingle and he held Magnus' hips down as he continued to thrust gently into him as his groin pulsed.

When he was done he could still feel that Magnus was hard so Alec rolled him off his body, undid his belt quickly along with his zipper and thrust his hand into his jeans, feeling Magnus through his boxers. Magnus grunted at feeling Alec's hand on him.

Alec stood up off the bed abruptly and pulled Magnus' jeans off from his ankles, leaving him in just white boxers. There was spots of pre-cum on them and Alec launched down onto Magnus kissing his stomach and down his happy trail.

Once he reached his boxers he tugged these off quickly too and continued kissing Magnus' pelvis. He teased Magnus slightly, licking small areas and then blowing on them until he engulfed his penis in his mouth. He could taste the saltiness of the pre-cum and then Alec was pushing Magnus further into his mouth. He got Magnus as far as he could and then hollowed his cheeks, causing Magnus to cry out his name. He wanted to repay Magnus for their previous night together.

It didn't take much before Magnus was warning Alec that he was about to come and to pull off. Alec looked up as best he could to see Magnus' face and saw his eyes tightly closed. He decided he wanted to see Magnus come and he was practically tugging his hair trying to get him off anyway, so he pulled off with a pop and got up to see Magnus' face, but left his hand pumping Magnus vigorously. Within another few seconds Alec's hand was covered in jizz and Magnus was calling Alec's name loudly. He stroked him through his orgasm and once it was over leant down to kiss him gently then fell back on to the bed.

"Ahhh..soooo good" Magnus drawled as he felt around for Alec's clean hand beside him. Alec chuckled and hummed out his agreement. They laid there together, hands twined, catching their breath until suddenly Magnus looked over to Alec and asked "Did you come in your pants?" Alec turned bright red.

"Err yea...what can I say you turn me on too much." Alec muttered out embarrassed. Magnus leant up onto his elbow and then kissed Alec lightly.

"Don't be embarrassed Blue Eyes. Besides we can work on your stamina." Magnus started seriously and then ended with a snicker. Alec just playfully pushed Magnus onto his back again and got up.

"Do you mind if I take a shower….and erm maybe borrow some boxers?" Alec asked whilst rubbing the back of his neck shyly. Magnus jumped up, gestured to his own messy body and guided Alec towards the bathroom across his room.

They took turns washing each other and kissed lazily under the spray, tongues twisted together and hands exploring. Afterwards, once they were dried off, Magnus retrieved a pair of boxers for Alec.

"What are these?" Alec asked staring at the fabric in his hand. Magnus just looked at him like he was stupid.

"Boxers? What do you think they are?" Magnus asked laughing at Alec. With a huff Alec put the bright pink boxer briefs on.

XxX

After they were dressed again and downstairs, they ate some pasta for themselves and talked about their weeks, since they hadn't seen much of each other.

Once they had finished eating they went back upstairs to Magnus' office where he showed Alec the plans he was working on at the minute. He was apparently designing plans for a new museum, and aside from giving the area the building had to fit in, his firm had to come up with three options to present to the town council. His boss had asked all ten architects to come up with ideas and he would choose the best ones.

Magnus' design was quite modern and curvy, with lots of green space and water out the front, which drew the eye line into the entrance, which was double storey and rather imposing. Magnus was only a junior architect but apparently his boss had said his design 'showed promise'. It was clear that Magnus was passionate about his job and Alec felt a pang of jealousy that Magnus had obviously found his calling and was also succeeding in it.

Just as Magnus was bringing the interior designs up on his laptop the door opened and Finn walked in sleepily calling Daddy.

"Hey pumpkin, what's up?" Magnus said as he swivelled round on the chair, forgetting the designs for a minute. Alec took a step back from the desk and sat on the sofa. He smiled softly at Finn, who then diverted from his path towards Magnus over to Alec and leant against his knee. Alec glanced quickly at Magnus and made a face as if to say 'huh, why's he come to me?' All was made clear with Finn's next sentence "Max is wriggly and I can't sleep anymore"

Alec apologised to Finn and picked him up and put him on his knee without any whining from the child. "Are you still tired?" Alec asked. Finn nodded and slumped against Alec's torso. Alec rubbed his back as he would Max and hummed softly to him. Within minutes Finn was sound asleep.

Alec looked up at Magnus who had shiny eyes. "Are you okay?" Alec asked worried that he'd done something wrong. Magnus just nodded and came over to sit beside the two.

"He's never taken to someone this quickly. It's only ever been me and my mum, and now here he is trusting you like this, enough to fall asleep on you." Magnus whispered. Alec just smiled at Magnus and grasped his hand with the arm that wasn't supporting Finn.

"I'm sorry about Max, he can toss and turn a bit, maybe we need to reconsider the top and tail thing. Or just make sure they get naps in their own bed." Alec suggested. Magnus just shrugged and then got his phone out to take a picture of them both.

"This is the first time it's disrupted Finn so let's just see how it goes. They still need naps during the day and it kind of limits our time together if we can only do either morning or afternoon." Magnus pointed out. Alec nodded and then told Magnus to get his laptop so they could finish looking at the designs.

XxX

Later that evening once Max was in bed Alec thought back to what Magnus had said about Finn. Finn was a really good kid and he was so glad that Max had made friends with him and not just for his own personal reasons. If anything he didn't just see Finn as the bonus that came with Magnus, so Max could have a playmate. It was more that Magnus was the bonus that came with Finn. The four of them just worked well together. It really made Alec feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Alec got up to get himself a beer and then sat down with a book he'd been meaning to start. It was a biography for some comedian, his birthday present from Clary. He needed a bit of light hearted escapism from time to time.

Just as he'd finished the first chapter and was nearly wetting himself with laughter Izzy came down the stairs.

"What's got you so tickled?" she asked struggling to keep a straight face at her older brother who was usually quite serious. Alec showed her the front cover of the book and then closed it, still giggling to himself. It was then he remembered he wanted to ask Izzy a favour.

"Iz, do you reckon you could do me a massive favour and look after Max on Friday night?" Alec asked whilst wiping his eyes of tears.

"Yea probably, I was gonna see Sophie for dinner but I'm sure she can move it to Saturday lunch or dinner or something. Why? What you got planned?" Izzy inquired. Alec blushed a tiny bit before explaining it was his first proper date with Magnus. "Oooh so what you gonna do?" Izzy continued.

"Well I was going to take him to Clary's art show thing, cos that's quite different and it's black tie for the opening night so we can dress up which Magnus will like." Izzy nodded and gestured for Alec to continue "and then I was thinking about dinner or a walk along the river or something after, I want to do something romantic but we still need to eat."

"Well I guess it's sort of a shame it's winter as then you could do a picnic. Although to be honest maybe it might just be fun to do it here. If you want I can help you set it up" Izzy suggested. Alec's face split into a grin.

"That's a great idea! It kind of makes it even more romantic if we just set it up on the floor here." Alec agreed.

"Yea and I can light some candles and stuff if you just give me a warning when you're on your way home" Izzy nodded her head along, adding to the plan.

Alec made a list of things he needed to get with Izzy suggesting more ideas as he wrote things down. He was pretty sure they had a picnic blanket somewhere. It was probably in his parents room. Maybe he'd just buy a new one, he hadn't been in there for a while and he kind of wanted to keep it that way.

He also made up his mind that he wanted to ask Magnus to officially be his boyfriend. They'd done 'stuff' already and they met for lunch every few days and they were going on a date but he didn't just want to assume that they were together now or whatever. He'd have a think about how to make that special too, he knew Magnus would love it if he did it with a bit of flare.

Once he'd exhausted his brain with thinking up ideas, he deposited his now empty beer bottle in the bin and trudged upstairs to bed, taking his book with him. He fell asleep willing Friday to come quickly.

* * *

 **A/N: I'd love some more reviews please! Hope you all had a great Christmas! xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates. January is a VERY busy period for me at work. So much so that the stress has brought on a cold so I've been in bed writing this. Hurray for illness! Please read and review!**

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Friday did not come quickly. Now Max was back at Daycare he seemed to have trouble settling into it again considering he hadn't been for almost three weeks and he was tired and irritable when Alec picked him up each evening. Meaning getting him to eat dinner was a struggle and he would end up going to bed later, leaving him more tired. It really was true what they said about routine for kids. They needed it.

Luckily Clary came over a couple of nights that week to put Max to bed so Alec could have some down time and then they could catch up on how her wall for the show was looking.

Aside from the fact it was his and Magnus' first date Alec was really excited to go to Clary's show. He was immensely proud of his talented friend and he'd never been to a proper art show before. Sure he'd been to art museums and stuff but never to proper art shows where you could purchase the art.

Clary was in good spirits but as it got closer to Friday she started voicing her worries to Alec about people not liking her paintings and drawings and nobody buying anything from her wall and it being the only one not bare by the end of the show. Alec of course told her she was being ridiculous but it didn't really make a difference.

XxX

On Thursday after his morning shift Alec went to the store to pick up items for his picnic for Magnus, getting some champagne too for the occasion. Alec wasn't really a massive fan of champagne but he thought it was called for. He got a bunch of red roses too and a new picnic blanket.

When he got home and had put all the food away he texted Magnus the details for tomorrow. He'd made him wait all week wanting to build up to the surprise. Now he was slightly worried he might have over

hyped it and Magnus wouldn't be that impressed.

 **I'll pick you up at 7.15 tomorrow evening. Wear a tux xx**

Magnus was at work so he wasn't expecting a reply, so he got on with his afternoon doing a few chores before he had to pick Max up from Daycare. He cleaned the kitchen and downstairs living area for the picnic and also his ensuite just in case Magnus ended up staying the night again. Alec beamed at the memory of last time, waking up to Magnus in his bed. Completely naked at that. Alec had never had a proper relationship before, he'd fooled around you could say with a couple of guys at college. A few times with the same guy but that hadn't progressed into sleepovers.

Before he knew it it was time to pick Max up so he drove quickly to the Daycare centre. He pulled into the parking lot and spotted Magnus' car so parked next to it. As he parked he looked over and saw Magnus was sitting in his car on the phone looking a bit stressed.

Alec didn't know what to do. He didn't want to interfere on his conversation but he also didn't just want to walk off to get Max leaving Magnus to think he didn't care. He got out of his car and walked over to the drivers side door and tapped lightly on the window. Magnus obviously hadn't seen him as he jumped with surprise. He held his finger up as if to say 'one minute' then ended his call and put his phone in the centre console and got out of his car.

"Are you okay? That call looked a bit tense." Alec asked as he softly took one of Magnus' hands by his side and rubbed his thumb across the back of it as if to sooth him.

"Uh yea I guess. That was my boss asking where I had gone. I told him that I had to pick Finn up and take him home and get him to bed and then I would log back on from home but apparently he needs me in the office to go over some plans face to face with him. But a call will just have to do." Magnus explained and then took some deep breaths.

"Am I missing something here? You seem really stressed by this so it's obviously important and usually you'd just ask your mum to pick Finn up and look after him until you got home. Is that not an option?" Alec suggested.

"Yea, it's important. They're the plans for the museum. He's making his decision about the best three tomorrow and then presenting them to the town council in the afternoon. I thought he would just make the decision based off the plans but apparently he's spent the afternoon speaking to my colleagues about theirs and understanding their 'vision' but I rushed off before he got to my turn seemingly. And my mum's been away visiting my auntie and isn't back until tomorrow so she can't look after Finn." Magnus managed to get out through lots of huffing.

"Okay well I can look after Finn for the night and just drop him off to Daycare in the morning with Max. Only if you trust me to of course." Alec offered.

"Oh my gosh would you? That would solve all my problems and of course I trust you. I don't know why it didn't occur to me sooner!" Magnus exclaimed as he reached up to plant a kiss on Alec's lips.

"Yea absolutely. This is important, you need to give yourself the best shot at your designs for the museum being picked and besides Finn is no trouble at all." Alec assured Magnus.

"Oh my gosh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Magnus shouted then planted successive kisses again on Alec's lips before leaving his lips against Alec's on the last one and bringing his hands up to the sides of Alec's face and brushing his tongue between the crease in Alec's lips.

Alec opened up for Magnus immediately and pushed him gently against the car as their tongues met. After a few seconds Magnus broke away and started unbuttoning Alec's coat.

"Magnus we're in the Daycare parking lot" Alec breathed out as Magnus slid open Alec's coat and brought his hands round to link at the small of Alec's back to bring him even closer.

"Ssshhh" Magnus just replied and brought his mouth up to Alec's again. Alec gave in pretty easily once Magnus' tongue was back in his mouth and it was only when they heard a car door close somewhere nearby that they were both brought out of the spell. Alec leapt away from Magnus as Magnus just laughed.

"Come on Blue Eyes let's go get the boys." Magnus called over his shoulder as he walked off towards the building leaving a blushing Alec behind.

As they entered the classroom Finn and Max spotted them and ran up to them. Magnus bent down and explained to Finn that he was going to go home with Alec and Max and stay the night there and that Magnus or his Nanna would pick him up from Daycare tomorrow night. Finn seemed pretty excited by the prospect of another sleepover with Max.

Magnus told the Daycare staff that Alec would be bringing Finn in tomorrow in case they got alarmed as he wasn't one of the 'pre-informed carers' for Finn. Then they got the boys coats and bags together and made their way out. After a quick transfer of Finn's car seat to Alec's car the boys were safely belted in and Magnus was saying goodbye to Finn and telling him to be good.

"Thank you so much for doing this. You really didn't have to." Magnus thanked Alec again.

"Honestly Magnus it's really no trouble. Besides I couldn't just stand back and watch your hard work on these plans go to waste." Alec retorted.

"I know. But we've literally been… uh seeing each other… for less than two weeks and I'm already throwing my kid on you." Magnus murmured. It was rare for Magnus to be shy or embarrassed but obviously the talk of being together and sharing looking after the kids was a big topic for them.

Alec decided to snap Magnus out of that, he didn't like seeing him so unsure of himself. He needed him to be his usual confident self when going into this meeting with his boss so Alec set his prudishness aside and placed an open mouthed kiss just under Magnus' ear and whispered "It's okay you can repay me in sexual favours later" which caused Magnus to gasp.

Once he'd processed that properly and gotten over the shock of Alec's boldness he replied "certainly will gorgeous, you just wait til tomorrow night" and then pecked him on the lips and opened the car door for Alec to get in.

"Good luck in your meeting babe, text me later to tell me how it went" Alec said before hopping into the car.

"Will do Blue Eyes." Magnus replied before closing the door and watching Alec drive off. He hopped in his own car and then drove back to the office thinking about how lucky he was to have found Alec.

XxX

Max and Finn were both seemingly pretty tired since they were happy to just flop on the sofa and watch cartoons whilst Alec prepared their dinner. Usually they would be pretty noisy and babbling away to each other but they were so quiet Alec wondered if they had fallen asleep. He went to check on them as the peas were boiling in the pan and they were both still actually awake just engrossed in the tv.

They only had one booster seat for the dining table so Alec put Finn in it and had Max on his lap as he fed them both dinner. Seemingly Finn was a bit more advanced than Max as although Alec had to cut up his food he could basically feed himself after that. Max still went to use his hands and ignored the fork sitting on the table unless Alec put food on it and then passed it to him.

Alec again worried that he wasn't giving Max enough attention but calmed himself by thinking that Finn was a couple of months older and if Max really was behind then surely the Daycare centre would have said something by now. Perhaps Finn was just really advanced and Max was progressing at a normal rate. That would make sense, he knew Magnus' mum had been getting Finn to do things for himself from an early age when she looked after him.

As soon as they finished eating Max asked Alec if he could go to bed and could he read him and Finn two stories since there was two of them. Alec relented pretty quickly but told Max they had to have a bath first.

After a quick bath Alec went through the emergency clothing bag Magnus kept in his car that he'd given to Alec but couldn't find any pyjamas so he just put him in a pair of Max's. It didn't really matter if they were a bit short in the arms and legs. At least he had clothes for tomorrow for Finn that would fit him.

Once the boys were settled down in bed he gave them a choice of five books to read and then set about the storytelling, getting out his range of voices for the different characters. Halfway through the second book both boys were zonked out so Alec kissed Max on the head and after only a moment's hesitation did the same to Finn.

He wandered downstairs bringing the baby monitor with him and setting it on the kitchen side then thought about what to make for his and Izzy's dinner. She'd already told Alec she'd be home a bit late as a designer was coming in to give a talk after her classes and she didn't want to miss it. He was proud of his sister. In high school her work ethic hadn't been the greatest and although she'd come out with decent ish grades she hadn't ever really shown determination or drive towards her academics. Now though she was coming home most days telling Alec about what she'd learnt or done with enthusiasm. As Alec was cooking dinner Izzy walked through the front door.

"Hey big brother, how was your day?" Izzy asked as she put her bags down and walked over to the kitchen island.

"Yea good thanks, my shift was fine and then I got the stuff for tomorrow for the picnic. Oh by the way Finn is over for the night so don't worry if you hear two voices in the morning coming from Max's room." Alec explained.

"Okay sure, why is he here?" Izzy queried as she started eating the nacho chips that Alec had put in a bowl to have with their fajitas.

"Magnus has to work late and his mum is out of town so can't babysit. Stop eating those chips you'll ruin your appetite" Alec scolded putting on his best impression of what their mum used to be like.

"So is he coming over after to stay too? Should I wear ear plugs?" Izzy teased.

"No he's not, I didn't really think about that. Well I assume he isn't." Alec confirmed. From their conversation earlier it didn't seem like he was going to and he had told the Daycare staff that it would be Alec dropping Finn in.

XxX

After they ate and Alec asked all the right questions seemingly, from the grin on Izzy's face, about her talk from the designer Alec walked Izzy through how he wanted things set up for the picnic tomorrow night. He was getting a bit nervous now, he knew he needn't do but he wanted it to be perfect.

He wanted the food laid out on one side of the blanket and the cushions from the sofa surrounding the other side so they could sit comfortably. Then the roses were to be placed on the side table next to the blanket along with the champagne and two glasses. Izzy assured him she knew what she was doing but he made her repeat it all back to him anyway.

Izzy got a bit fed up of Alec not trusting her to set it up right so told him she was going to bed and then slouched off up the stairs. Alec tidied up the dinner plates and kitchen quickly and then wiped down the sides again once more and crept upstairs himself and into his room.

As he was coming out of the shower he heard his phone beep in succession. Worried that something was wrong he tied the towel quickly round his waist and went to retrieve his phone from his bedside table.

 **Hey gorgeous, meeting went really well. Boss said he really liked my designs. I hope they get picked xx**

 **Like really really liked my designs. He was asking loads of questions and getting into the depth of it and then when I left he clapped me on the back and told me to keep up the good work! xx**

 **It's so exciting! Anyway how is Finn? Did he go down okay and eat for you and generally not cause trouble? xx**

 **And how are you my sweet? xx**

Alec read the multitude of messages and then got into his pyjamas quickly before he replied. None of it seemed urgent like he had suspected so he brushed his teeth quickly too so he could just get into bed and not have to get up again.

 **Oh well done! Sounds really positive, good for you. Finn was absolutely fine, no trouble at all like I said. I'm good too, excited for tomorrow evening xx**

 **Glad to hear about Finn. I am excited for tomorrow night too. Super excited to see what the surprise is. I'll get my tux out of the cupboard now, intrigued to see what I need to wear it for… xx**

 **I hope you like it, I worry I've hyped it up too much. Are you at the office still or at home? xx**

 **I'm sure whatever it is I will I love it! I'm at home, just got in. Sorry I would've come over but I need to be up early tomorrow for a 7am meeting and I didn't want to be a nuisance and wake you up late tonight and then early xx**

 **Okay well you get to bed if you have to be up that early. I'm about to sleep too so I'll say goodnight now xx**

 **Thanks gorgeous. Night xx**

XxX

Alec slept peacefully but was woken early by the shouting coming from Max's room. He tried to ignore it but it really was loud so after ten minutes he just got up. He took the boys downstairs holding a hand each so they wouldn't trip. Usually Max still scooted down on his bum but more recently he had been trying his hand at walking down. Mostly very slowly. At least it was progress.

He gave the boys a quick porridge breakfast and got them off to Daycare. Once he was at work, he found himself getting restless. He had a shift with one of the newbies who he hadn't really spoken to much yet and it wasn't that busy but he couldn't bring himself to start up a meaningful conversation. Really he just wanted the hours to pass so he could go home and get ready for his date with Magnus.

Towards lunchtime Alec got a text from Magnus

 **He picked my designs! My designs to be presented to the council for the museum! Xx**

 **Yay well done babe! When will you know if they are the ones being used? Xx**

 **Probably not for a while. They are being presented this afternoon but the council will probably take a few weeks to decide and then have more questions and want to change bits before they are certain xx**

 **Okay well at least it's not months. We must celebrate tonight! Xx**

 **Yes, let's. Right I better get back to work. See you this eve xx**

XxX

During the afternoon Zach came in briefly for a coffee and to pick up a muffin as he only lived above the shop so had his coffee needs met easily (and freely) by popping downstairs.

"Hey Alec, Chad. How are you guys?" Zach asked politely as he waited for Chad to make his coffee.

"Good thanks. It's been quiet this morning but picked up a bit this afternoon." Alec replied.

"I asked how you were, not how the shop was" Zach stated whilst he placed a hand on Alec's shoulder "any plans for this evening? I've got two tickets for this comedy show if you want to join" Zach offered.

Alec shook his head and then realised he needed to explain why "Sorry Clary's got her art show opening so I'm going to that with Magnus."

"You're still with that guy?" Zach asked sharply.

"Err yea, I mean it's only been a couple of weeks…" Alec replied trailing off with a confused look.

Zach removed his hand from Alec's shoulder, grabbed his coffee which was now on the counter and almost stormed out of the door.

"What was that about?" Chad asked seemingly also nearly as confused as Alec.

"I have no idea…" Alec replied.

XxX

By the time Alec had picked Max up from Daycare, apparently just missing Magnus according to Max, he drove home quickly as it was already six o clock. He made Max a very quick dinner and then left him with Izzy when she got in so he could get ready.

He had the quickest shower ever and then donned his tux. He tried to fix his hair as best as he could in the mirror, taking a deep breath and trying to calm his nerves.

He said a short goodbye to Max and Izzy and then jumped into his car and drove to Magnus'. He checked his hair again and adjusted his bow tie in the car mirror and then strolled up to the front door.

Cathy opened the door and smiled at him gesturing for him to come in.

"Magnus is still upstairs but I'm sure he'll be down soon. Can I get you a drink whilst you wait?" Cathy offered.

"No I'm okay thank you Cathy. I'll just sit and wait over here" Alec said gesturing to the sofa. Cathy wandered off back into the kitchen and Finn came up to Alec and started playing with his bow tie asking what it was. So much for straightening it!

"It's called a bow tie. You know how your daddy wears ties to work but they are long down to here" Alec gestured to his belt "these are like that but short."

As Finn continued to play with his bow tie Magnus walked down the stairs. Alec glanced up and his breath caught in his throat. Magnus was wearing a pair of tight fitting black slacks with a white shirt and a plum coloured velvet jacket and a matching bow tie. He looked so beautiful with the front of his hair styled into a quiff and the rest slicked back and the purple eyeshadow he had on.

Finn went over to Magnus and asked about his bow tie as Alec just gaped mouth open, Magnus picked Finn up, gave him a kiss on the cheek, said goodbye and then put him back down again, all whilst maintaining eye contact with Alec.

He grabbed Alec's hand from where it was resting on the arm of the sofa and pulled him up to his feet.

"Ma we're going" Magnus called and then without waiting for a reply tugged Alec towards the front door, opened it quickly and pulled him through it.

Next thing Alec knew the door was slamming and Magnus had him pressed against the house and his tongue was thrusting in Alec's mouth.

Once the shock wore off Alec tried to keep up with Magnus' tongue but he was really losing the battle for control, not that he minded one bit. Magnus' hands were all over him; running up and down his arms, then to his ass, then up to his neck. Alec couldn't keep up. After a minute or two of this they needed air and Magnus broke away but hovered close to Alec's mouth and said "You look absolutely delicious. I love a man in a tux."

"Uh yea I can tell… you look great too but we can't stand here kissing all night, I have plans for us" Alec replied teasingly.

"Okay one more kiss first though." Magnus negotiated before he swooped up and resumed the kissing anyway. This one was much less hurried and more gentle and slow. Magnus pulled away after only a few seconds and then waltzed off to the car leaving Alec dazed and using the wall to support his weight as his weak knees currently couldn't.

He took a few more seconds to gather himself and then got in the car too. He drove them quickly to the town hall where the art show was being held and parked up. Magnus continued to be touchy feely as they walked into the building, holding Alec's hand and bumping against his shoulder as they walked. That was the level of PDA Alec could handle though.

"The art show. Amazing idea!" Magnus exclaimed energetically as they walked in and he saw the fancy welcome sign. They took two glasses of champagne, nobody seemed bothered about IDs, maybe it was just because Alec had a tux on that he looked older than he was. That and the fact he hadn't shaved for a few days and had stubble forming. It really did make him look older.

Magnus leant up to kiss him on the cheek after taking a sip of champagne and whispered "perfect first date" which caused Alec to grin. So far so good.

They wandered in to the main hall and Alec looked for Clary. He couldn't see her but he did recognise some of her drawings on a wall so he walked that way pulling Magnus along with him.

Alec spotted Clary as he got closer and the crowd had died down a little. She was talking to two people, but then spotted Alec and excused herself.

"Ah yay you guys are here" she squealed as she leaned in to give both men a kiss on the cheek.

"Clary your art looks amazing, you must talk us through each piece later." Magnus suggested.

"Absolutely, I would love to. Thank you so much for coming, it means a lot." Clary agreed.

"Of course, we wouldn't miss it, it really does look great. I can't believe you've achieved so much in only a couple of months" Alec complimented.

"I know it feels longer than that but I'm really happy with it how it turned out. Now I just need to see if people buy anything!" Clary said somewhat proudly.

"I'm sure they will Biscuit" Magnus tried to reassure her.

"Biscuit?" Clary asked. Magnus just shrugged and said he gave everyone a nickname.

"Fine, but why Biscuit?" Clary asked looking very confused.

"Well because, you have ginger hair and that reminds me of Ginger Snaps, the biscuit, so I am going to call you Biscuit." Magnus explained. Alec chuckled, at Clary's face. She was quite confused.

"Okayyy... now sorry I must go, that was my grandparents I just practically ignored to come say hi to you guys." Clary apologised as she scurried off.

At that Magnus tugged Alec over to the bottom of Clary's wall to look at it more closely. It really was very well put together. The drawings were dispersed between the paintings so there wasn't too much colour in one section and the biggest two paintings were displayed right at the top of the wall with the pieces getting smaller as you came down. Clary's theme seemed to be portraits as there was people in every one. It was only when Alec focused properly on each piece did he realise that on the outskirts about halfway up the wall was a drawing of himself.

"That girl" Alec grumbled under his breath. Magnus followed Alec's eyeline and gasped "Oh my, it's beautiful..."

It was a black and white pencil drawing of Alec looking straight out of the page, with a hint of mischief in his eyes. He had no idea when Clary would have drawn that or even if it was from an actual moment that happened or if she'd imagined it in her head before drawing it.

Magnus let go of Alec's hand and wandered off as Alec stared at the drawing. A few minutes later he returned standing next to Alec again.

"I bought it" Magnus informed Alec. Alec turned to Magnus with a frown on his face.

"What! Why would you buy that? Why not spend your money on something more worthy" Alec asked whilst waving his hand towards the whole of Clary's wall. Anything else on there would have been better.

"What do you mean more worthy. You're worth every cent. Besides I couldn't have someone else taking that home" Magnus justified.

Alec just scoffed and pulled Magnus over to the next artist's section, hoping that it didn't cost him too much.

All the art was incredible, he couldn't believe these were all amateurs. However he thought Clary's wall was the most impressive but he was probably biased. She did seem to be getting a lot of attention though.

Halfway through the evening there was a speech from the mayor and then Alec and Magnus spent some time chatting to Clary about her artwork. Apparently nearly half of her pieces had already been bought.

"Good for you Clary but when were you going to tell me about my face being up on that wall." Alec chastised.

"Erm never because I knew you'd react like this." Clary said bluntly causing Magnus to burst out laughing beside her.

"Argh, ugh, I- I…" Alec stammered out. Magnus just chuckled and rubbed up and down Alec's back.

"Ssshhh Blue Eyes, it's okay" Magnus whispered to Alec whilst still chuckling.

"Let's go look at the last few artists and find some more of those salmon and cream cheese vol au vents I like" Magnus said as he quickly skimmed his hand over Alec's ass. That focused Alec and he walked off toward the section of the hall they hadn't yet covered before Magnus started grabbing.

After more vol au vents and finishing off their circuit of the hall Magnus dragged Alec out a side door and into an empty hallway. "This was perfect, thank you for a wonderful evening." Magnus started but Alec interrupted telling him it wasn't over yet.

"Oh. So what's next? Dinner?" Magnus asked as he leaned in "or do you want to come back to mine?" Magnus whispered sultrily and then licked the shell of Alec's ear. That was super tempting but it was only 9.30 and Alec knew he had a whole picnic planned out at home and that if Magnus' antics so far were anything to go by that they would likely end up in bed at Alec's anyway.

"Nope, there's still a surprise to come. Are you ready to go?" Alec managed to get out after gulping deeply.

"Yep. Let me just pop to the restroom quickly." Magnus replied as he stepped away from Alec. He once again astounded Alec at how quickly he could go from being so seductive to being straight up normal again whilst Alec was left taking deep breaths and trying to calm his heart rate.

Alec texted Izzy to let her know they'd be home in about fifteen minutes so could she light the candles and put the food from the fridge out and then make herself scarce.

XxX

Magnus was trying to guess where they were going at the start of the journey but as they drove out of the middle of town he gave up and started discussing his favourite bits of the art show.

When they turned onto Alec's street Magnus stopped talking and turned to Alec asking him what was going on. Alec refused to give in to Magnus and when they pulled into the driveway he came round to the passengers side and opened the door giving Magnus his hand.

Once they were at the front door Alec put his key in the lock and twisted but didn't push it open instead he brought Magnus gently in front of him and covered his eyes with his hands and then told Magnus to walk slowly through the door. Once they were in, Alec kissed Magnus' ear and then whispered for him to open his eyes as he removed his hands. He gasped quietly and walked forward.

"Oh Alec this is so thoughtful. I love picnics and with the candles and the champagne. You're amazing" Magnus gushed as Alec led him over to the blanket and forced him to sit down.

Alec took his jacket off and laid it over the sofa and then opened the champagne and poured two glasses as Magnus did the same and got settled against some cushions.

Alec sat down with Magnus and passed him a glass of champagne and then raised his glass to clink again Magnus' "Here's to you and your incredible museum designs being picked to be presented" Alec toasted. Magnus nodded his head to Alec and then made his own toast "and here is to us and our perfect first date". They shared a brief kiss and then Alec told Magnus to dig in to whatever food he wanted. Magnus' eyes lit up at that and he immediately reached for the chocolate covered strawberries. He had a couple himself and then held one up to Alec's mouth.

Alec went to bite it but Magnus swiped it across his cheek instead so he had a line of chocolate there and then ate the strawberry himself. At Alec's indignant look he got on his hands and knees and proceeded to lick the line of chocolate off Alec's cheek down to his mouth and then resumed the rough and passionate kissing from earlier in the evening as he pushed Alec gently back on to the cushions and crawled up him.

At this rate they wouldn't even be eating any of this food before they ended up in bed. Magnus was pretty horny seemingly if the hand creeping up the inside of Alec's thigh was anything to go by. Not that Alec wasn't, jeez just the sight of Magnus was enough half the time, but he was starving and he wanted to eat some of the food he'd made the effort of preparing. And he wanted to make it official with Magnus.

"I want to taste you again" Magnus whispered in Alec's ear and Alec moaned, maybe all that other stuff could wait. He'd never been with someone like Magnus, someone who got him so hot and bothered.

Magnus' hand had finished trailing up Alec's thigh and was now rubbing Alec to hardness. He really was horny. Alec thrust his tongue back in Magnus mouth and brought his own hands up to Magnus' ass to give it a squeeze which caused Magnus to squeeze Alec's cock in turn.

"Okay let's take this upstairs" Alec managed to get out. He'd ask Izzy to make herself scarce but who knew if she'd come down at some point.

"Oh no what about all the food, we have to eat it. I'll just continue to tease you until we're done." Magnus said in the most innocent voice and then got another chocolate covered strawberry and actually fed it to Alec this time.

This continued on for a while, the alternating between kissing and touching and feeding each other. Until it got too much for Alec and he wanted to just get the boyfriend formalities out the way and drag Magnus to bed.

So that's what he set about doing. Most of the food was gone and he was feeling quite full, both their bow ties were off and their top few buttons undone, and Alec's dick had been straining against his pants for the last forty minutes.

So he grabbed a single rose from the vase, pulled Magnus to his feet and then shyly said "Magnus Bane would you be my boyfriend?" before placing the rose in his mouth and getting down on one knee feeling rather cheesy. He heard a gasp from Magnus, so he knew his gesture had surprised him at least.

After steadying himself, he knew champagne got him tipsy far more quickly, Alec looked up at Magnus... only to see a look of horror on his face.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Lemony fluffiness ahead! Enjoy x**

* * *

"You idiot what are you doing?" Magnus nearly shouted. Alec took the rose out of his mouth and felt tears forming in his eyes. He thought Magnus wanted this.

"You've just cut your lip open in like three places from the thorns on that rose. Could you not feel it?" Magnus continued wiping Alec's lip with his thumb and putting it in front of Alec's face to show him the blood on it.

Alec was so in the moment he couldn't really feel it but there was definitely blood on Magnus' thumb so it made sense.

"Oh err no. Is it bad?" Alec questioned wiping his own lip to find more blood.

"Not really, you just pricked your lip I think in a few places" Magnus replied. Then pulled Alec into the kitchen and went to wet some tissue and proceeded to wipe Alec's lips to remove all the blood properly.

"So about that question I uhm asked" Alec brought up shyly as Magnus finished and scrunched up the wet tissue.

"Oh yea, of course Blue Eyes, I'd love to call you my boyfriend." Magnus confirmed without second thought and delivered Alec a smile.

"Oh thank god. I was worried there for a while" Alec let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh my gosh sorry I didn't think. I was just worried about you causing more damage" Magnus explained.

Before Magnus had even finished Alec soared forward and their lips met in a soft kiss. Magnus brought his hand up to cup Alec's jaw and his other hand brought him in for a hug which Alec reciprocated tightly.

"I think we might have another problem to deal with though" Magnus chuckled out as his right hand let go of Alec and he moved it between them to stroke Alec's hardness. Alec just blushed from his face straight down.

Before he knew what was happening Alec was being dragged up the stairs and shoved into his room. Magnus closed the door quietly then turned round to Alec and undid the buttons on his own shirt with speed stripping it off and throwing it on the floor. Alec couldn't do anything but watch as Magnus' muscled ripples and he revealed his perfectly toned stomach.

Magnus pushed Alec down so he was sitting on the bed and climbed on him straddling him and once again claimed his mouth while rocking his hips into Alec's. He broke away and placed open mouthed kisses down Alec's jaw in between stating "you're" kiss "all" kiss "mine" kiss.

His hands found Alec's buttons and undid those with ease too and then his shirt was being pushed off his shoulders and Magnus' hands were all over him, pushing him back onto the bed.

He covered Alec's chest and stomach in hot wet kisses and then licked along the waistband of Alec's trousers as he brought his hand up to the button and undid that and the zipper just as quickly. I guess when you've been teasing each other all night, you get to it pretty quickly.

By this point Magnus was so turned on he became animalistic. He knelt up, lifting one of Alec's legs up around his waist as he patted the back of Alec's thigh near his ass murmuring "off". Alec lifted his hips so Magnus could pull his suit trousers down. They were down a couple of inches before Magnus grabbed Alec's other leg to loop that behind his back too. He leant forward, keeping one hand on the back of Alec's thigh giving it a sharp squeeze and put his other hand next to Alec's hip holding his weight up, then once again ran his tongue along the waistband of Alec's black boxers until he reached the centre and pulled them down slightly with his teeth.

Magnus started sucking intently on the v in Alec's pelvis. He bit down gently, bringing Alec's skin between his teeth, then soothing it with his tongue and resuming sucking, repeating the whole process a few times until Alec found himself getting impatient. He growled, used his feet wrapped round Magnus' waist to roll Magnus' over until he was straddling him and urgently set to work on Magnus' trousers. Within less than five seconds Alec was on his feet pulling Magnus' trousers off until they thudded against the floor.

Alec worked his way back up Magnus' body, kissing and licking his way up Magnus' inner thighs until he reached Magnus's deep purple boxers. Of course he would match his underwear with his clothes.

Alec didn't have nearly as much patience as Magnus and stripped them off straight away. Magnus moaned as his arousal felt the cold air and then moaned even louder as Alec brought a ball into his mouth and started sucking. "Ah god, Alec, yes…" Magnus uttered as he drove his hands into Alec's hair and tugged lightly. This spurred Alec on even more who wrapped his hand round Magnus' impressively thick length and sucked even harder. Alec drew his hand lazily up and down Magnus' dick, let his mouth off his ball with a pop and then kissed up and around Magnus' groin before taking Magnus into his mouth. Magnus gasped in pleasure as Alec immediately licked the underside of his cock.

Alec hollowed his cheeks and continued stroking with his hand. "Oh, this feels incredible, uh, don't stop" Magnus groaned as Alec started to move up and down with his mouth. This combination of Alec's hand and mouth continued until Magnus felt the coiling in his stomach. He let one hand out of Alec's hair to grasp at the bedsheets.

Alec detached Magnus' hand from the bedsheet, gripping it tightly as he felt the first jet shoot into his mouth. He milked Magnus dry until he felt the pulsing stop and Magnus start to soften then swallowed. Alec hadn't ever done that before. Not that he'd even given many blow jobs before, but he wanted to do it for Magnus. The taste of salt lingered in his mouth as he placed pecks up Magnus' side and waited for him to catch his breath.

"Oh my god, that was unbelievable" Magnus gasped out still breathing heavily.

"You better believe it." Alec replied sassily before he dipped down and pushed his tongue in Magnus' mouth, running his hand slowly up Magnus' outer thigh before gripping his hip firmly. Magnus' hands scratched down Alec's back, causing Alec to tremble, until they reached his boxers again. He pushed them down as much as he could whilst kissing Alec, then broke away, whispered "Your turn" and pushed Alec off him, getting him to stand up.

Magnus shuffled forward so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, tucked his fingers over the waistband of Alec's trousers and pulled them down slowly, whilst staring Alec down. Magnus was a very sensual person, he wanted Alec to feel every moment of this and he wanted to see his face while it happened.

Alec stepped out of his trousers, swallowed deeply and then reached down to remove his socks as Magnus bent forward, placing open mouth kisses just above Alec's boxers and reached his hands round to squeeze Alec's ass cheeks.

Once Alec was standing up straight again, Magnus thought he'd try a second time at pulling Alec's boxers down with his teeth. They were slightly pulled down as Alec went to help Magnus, slipping his thumbs in the sides and pushing down.

"Ah, ah, no. Patience Blue Eyes" Magnus murmured and put his hands over Alec's to stop him. Alec did as he was told and weaved his hands into Magnus' longer hair, as Magnus resumed his task, until he reached the prominence in Alec's boxers. He wasn't going to be able to pull them down over that, so he moved his hands from Alec's hips down his outer thighs and slipped his hands under the fabric of the boxers skimming up the back of Alec's legs to cup Alec's cheeks pulling them down slowly from the inside.

Once they were off, Magnus got to his feet, licked along Alec's left collarbone, rose onto his tiptoes slightly and whispered in Alec's ear "I want you to fuck my mouth."

Alec didn't really know what that meant but liked the sound of it. He reclaimed Magnus' mouth once again, putting his arms around Magnus waist and drawing him in so their chests were rubbing together slightly.

Alec was so horny he prised himself away from Magnus' mouth and bit his way down his neck, leaving small red marks as he trailed his hand down Magnus' back to the top of his bum. Just as Alec was about to go lower Magnus sat down on the bed again and took Alec's member into his hand. Alec inhaled loudly and looked down at Magnus.

After a few soft strokes Magnus took Alec into his mouth and sucked vigorously, his hands reached up to Alec's hips bringing him forward until Alec's length hit the back of Magnus's throat. "Oh fuck..." Alec let out and then grasped Magnus' hair more tightly as Magnus started to move his head back and forth. This was definitely something Alec hadn't experienced before. Not that his cock was supremely large but he'd never had someone take him completely.

Eventually Magnus got Alec's hips moving in a rhythm that worked for both of them and Alec was making the most beautiful noises Magnus had ever heard. After another couple of minutes Magnus knew Alec didn't need his hands to guide him anymore so he could put them to better use. He wanted Alec to have the most intense orgasm he'd ever had, so he reached one hand down to roll Alec's balls in his cupped palm and the other one, although a little bit awkward to do, reached behind Alec and found his entrance.

Alec's rhythm was getting somewhat erratic now so he knew he must be getting close. Magnus circled his hole lightly, then pushed one finger in to the first knuckle. Alec bucked against him forcefully and then withdrew his hips slightly worried that he might have hurt Magnus but Magnus just continued. He was just about matching Alec's rhythm again and pushed his finger in slightly deeper, when Alec pulled sharply on his hair and cried out Magnus' name.

Magnus swallowed greedily and continued sucking until he was lightly pushed away by his shoulders indicating that Alec was too sensitive. Alec unceremoniously collapsed on the floor and moved to lay down but Magnus grabbed his hand to stop him from lying down completely and tugged him back up onto the bed.

Alec fell backwards and brought Magnus with him into his arms and sighed out "That was the best blow job I've ever had"

"Oh good. I was worried I might have hurt you cos I didn't have lube" Magnus said quietly so as not to ruin the mood.

"Yea no-one's ever put their finger in my ass before but it didn't really hurt, at least the pleasure overrode any pain" Alec tried to reassure Magnus but Magnus got up onto his elbow quickly and looked down at Alec.

"Really no-one's ever done that before? Not even before sex?" Magnus questioned. Alec could feel himself blushing but thankfully it was pretty dark in his room so Magnus probably couldn't see.

"Uhhh, well...no? But that might be because I've never had sex before" Alec mumbled very quietly towards the end.

"What was that blue eyes?" Magnus asked coming closer to hear Alec.

"I said no but that's probably because I've never had sex before" Alec said a bit louder, trying not to sound too embarrassed. Magnus didn't really know what to say to that. He had suspected Alec might be a virgin but he thought the chance was fairly slim, given the fact he'd been at college for a year when most people did their experimenting and he was a good looking guy.

"Oh" Magnus replied as an automatic reaction.

"But I don't want it to be a problem for us or anything, I want to do it but I just hadn't found the right person before and I don't even think I have a reason to wait any long-" Alec spat out before Magnus silenced him with a long kiss.

"Baby stop. Look I don't care, if anything it just makes it more special when it does happen. For both of us." Magnus reassured.

"O...Kay" Alec agreed. Magnus placed another kiss but this time on Alec's cheek.

"Please don't worry about it blue eyes" Magnus whispered as he placed further kisses up Alec's jaw towards his ear.

"We can work up to it" Magnus continued "whenever you're ready."

"You're amazing" Alec whispered as Magnus came back down to lay his head on Alec's chest. Alec's fingers skimmed up and down Magnus' back as they both took gentle breaths, still calming down from their previous exertion. Magnus turned his head to the side and laid a gentle kiss on Alec's pec.

"So are you blue eyes" Magnus reciprocated.

"We should get under the covers before we fall asleep here" Alec suggested.

Magnus hummed in agreement and rolled off Alec. He pulled Alec's hand along with him, waiting for him to follow.

They snuggled up under the covers and Magnus stroked Alec's arm gently and then pulled him onto his side towards him so they were chest to chest. Alec slung his leg over Magnus' and planted his mouth on his. Their kissing was slow and gentle as their hands settled round each other's waists.

"Goodnight Magnus"

"Goodnight blue eyes"

XxX

Alec was woken by Max outside the door. His door was shut properly yesterday and Max couldn't reach the handle just yet so he knew he couldn't get in but he still took stock of the fact that he was very naked and Magnus was lying next to him also very naked.

It was only 7am and Alec was not getting up just yet. He threw a t-shirt on and a pair of boxers and opened the door quickly and popped out, shutting it again behind him. He took Max by the hand back into his own room and set him up with a few puzzles and then told him to go wake Izzy if he needed anything.

Max settled back down quite quickly so he snuck out as he was distracted and went quickly back into his own room. He stripped his t shirt off and got straight back into the warm bed and cuddled up behind Magnus.

"Is he okay?" Magnus yawned, whilst shifting his body into position against Alec.

"Yea he's fine, I told him to go to Izzy if he wants anything" Alec said then placed a kiss against the back of Magnus' neck. Magnus hummed acknowledgement and twined his fingers with Alec's hand which was now resting against his stomach.

"Get some more sleep" Alec murmured and within minutes both were dead to the world again.

XxX

Alec's eyes drifted open slowly. Magnus was wriggling against him. Although it wasn't really wriggling, his ass was just moving up and down against Alec's crotch.

"Mmm what are you doing?" Alec asked quietly.

"What? Nothing.." Magnus replied innocently.

"Yea okay" Alec retorted. Alec's hand crept up from where it was currently draped over Magnus' waist up to his hip to grip it tightly "two can play at that game."

"Alec, Max wants breakfast" Izzy called after she knocked on the door.

"Just stay quiet, she might think we're asleep and go away" Alec groaned very quietly. Magnus however, was a giant tease and rolled over, trailing his hand down Alec's torso to his rock hard cock causing Alec to gasp.

"Ssshh, she might hear you" Magnus teased. Alec grabbed Magnus' hand to stop him.

"Alec, don't think you're getting out of this. Besides you two already had your fun last night. I heard you. Good job I did venture out of my room too cos you left all the candles lit. Don't worry I put out the fire." Izzy called.

Alec leapt out of bed at that, and pulled the door open slightly.

"Shit, what?" Alec asked Izzy.

"Oh, you are awake. Max wants you to make him breakfast. He specifically asked for you before you try and put this back on me" Izzy declared.

"There was a fire?" Alec asked still shocked.

"No, I just did that to make you get out of bed. But the candles were all lit and there could have been a fire. But thanks to me there wasn't" Izzy retorted and then walked off down the stairs.

XxX

"We need to be more careful, Izzy heard us last night." Alec said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sure she's exaggerating, she probably just suspects what we did. Besides she's an adult and from what you've said most likely not a stranger to sexual activity so I wouldn't worry" Magnus said nonchalantly.

"Yea, but she's still my baby sister." Alec justified.

"True. Anyway, why don't you go and get Max and bring him up here. I don't want to get out of bed yet. I'm rather enjoying this." Magnus suggested.

"But erm, you're naked" Alec said stating the obvious.

"Well yes, but I can put some clothes on before you bring him up." Magnus said.

"Yea...but he might ask questions about why you're in my bed. Nobody else is allowed in my bed, except him sometimes. Those are the rules" Alec pointed out.

"Yes he probably will ask questions. But we should tell the boys at some point, we can't just keep hiding away…. I mean we made it official right?" Magnus pushed.

"Yea, I guess so. Fine I'll get Max and some breakfast in bed" Alec agreed, pecked Magnus on the lips and then headed to the door, grabbing his t-shirt on the way.

"Put some clothes on" Alec called out before he shut the door.

"Ew...didn't need to know" Izzy laughed as she was walking back up the stairs. Alec jumped, he wasn't expecting Izzy to be there.

"Can you two keep it in your pants for a bit at least?" Izzy asked.

Alec blushed and rushed passed Izzy before she could question him. He ran down the stairs to find Max, quickly prepared some toast and coffee, grabbed some jam from the fridge and then carrying Max in one arm and the tray in the other he very carefully climbed the stairs.

He pushed the door open with his foot, hoping Magnus had gotten dressed, then put the tray down on the bedside table. He held Max to him, and sat down on the bed.

"Hey little man Max" Magnus said as he reached over to grab a slice of toast.

"Where's Finn?" Max asked confusedly.

"He's at home-" Magnus started but Max interrupted him "so why are you here?" he questioned.

"Max, we don't interrupt people when they are talking." Alec lightly scolded.

"It's okay Alec. I'm here because me and your dad are good friends and we had a sleepover like you and Finn do sometimes" Magnus explained. Max just looked at Alec as if for clarification.

"Well we're not exactly just good friends Max. Magnus and I are more than friends. You know how before Izzy said that I might want someone to spend time with, well I like spending time with Magnus and we will probably spend lots of time with each other, and with you and Finn too, so don't worry about that.." Alec explained whilst Max just stared at him blankly.

"I think what Alec is trying to say is that we like each other very much and I'm going to be around a lot. Is that okay?" Magnus said, addressing Max directly.

Max nodded and then crawled off Alec's lap, closer to Magnus and asked "Can I have some toast please?"

Magnus just nodded and handed Max a triangle of toast. "Ta" Max said and then crawled to sit next to Magnus up against the headboard. "Can we watch cartoons in here please Alec?"

Alec switched the tv on in his room to the kids channel and then picked Max up, lifted the covers back and deposited him on his lap, bringing the covers back around him again. He kissed his the top of his head and could see that Max was already engrossed. Alec glanced over at Magnus who was smiling back at him. Alec released one arm from around Max and crept his hand under the cover to grasp Magnus' hand and gave it a squeeze.

They ate their breakfast in comfortable silence, agreeing with Max when he made comments on the cartoon he was watching. After a while Max shuffled off Alec's lap and into the middle of the bed between Magnus and Alec. Alec checked it was okay with Magnus as Max was pretty much sitting on Magnus, well at least on his hand. Magnus just shrugged and pulled his hand from under Max's bum putting it round his shoulders causing Max to lean to the left into Magnus' side.

"Can I have some juice please?" Max asked looking up at Magnus and then at the glass of orange juice in his hand.

"Here Max, you can have-" Alec started but stopped when he saw that Magnus was already holding his glass to Max's lips. He rested back against the headboard and they resumed their morning snuggles. All three of them.

Shortly after Max started getting restless and crawled out from his spot and then started jumping on the bed getting closer and closer to the tv and so also the edge of the bed.

"Max, stop jumping, you're going to fall off" Alec told him, trying to capture Max's hand to pull him back down to a sitting position. Just as Alec nearly caught his hand Max slipped off the edge of the bed, losing his balance and was heading straight for the corner of the chest of drawers Alec's tv was on until Magnus leapt up grabbing him round his middle and spinning them round quickly so that Magnus' back got the brunt of the corner of the chest of drawers instead of Max's forehead.

He deposited Max back onto the bed and Alec pulled Max to him, kissing him on the forehead and clinging to him.

"See Max, you nearly split your head open, you have to be careful and listen to me" Alec urged as he brought Max's chin up to look him in the eyes when he said it.

"Sorry Alec" Max said very meekly, then went to sit back under the covers.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked walking round the bed towards Magnus as he watched him rubbing his back.

"Yea, yea fine. I'll probably just have a bit of a bruise later, maybe a graze. Don't worry about me" Magnus replied.

Alec hugged Magnus to him, kissing his cheek and rubbing his back softly. "Your reflexes are insane, how did you grab him that quickly" Alec questioned.

"Ha, it's dad reflexes, you can't imagine the amount of times Finn has fallen, or rolled off something in his sleep or whatever. You learn to have quick reactions and keep one eye on them at all times. I'm sure it will come to you soon enough." Magnus chuckled out whilst he stepped away from Alec.

"You okay little man?" Magnus asked Max as he climbed back into bed next to him. "Yea, thanks for catching me" Max replied as he slouched against Magnus again.

Alec looked at them both, so calm after what had happened. His heart rate was still through the roof, all the scenarios of what could have happened to Max running through his head. He was so thankful for Magnus already but then the man went and basically saved his little brother's life too. Well maybe that was going a bit far, but Max could definitely have hit his head really hard or broken something.

The three boys watched one more cartoon together then Magnus said he had better go and collect Finn. Max asked if he could stay and watch one more cartoon which Alec took as a good sign. Unfortunately Alec had to work so he also needed to get up and ready for his shift.

"Sorry little man, we can watch some cartoons together tomorrow with Finn after swimming." Magnus proposed, which placated Max for the moment.

"Do you mind if I use your shower quickly please gorgeous? I worked up a sweat last night" Magnus leaned over Max and whispered in Alec's ear.

"Ha erm, yea go for it. I'm going to get Max ready anyway." Alec whispered back. Magnus shuffled out of the bed and picked up his slacks and shirt from the floor. It was a bit crumpled but he was only going to drive from Alec's house to his own so it didn't really matter.

Alec watched Magnus go into the en suite and then picked Max up under his arms and set him down on the floor, shuffling him along into his own room so he could get him dressed.

xXx

Saturdays at The Coffee House were usually quite busy, so Alec's shift went by in no time. Zach came in again and told Alec all about the comedy show he went to the night before and how he'd missed out. Alec didn't exactly agree with him so he just said he was glad Zach had a good time and then busied himself with a customer.

"Maybe I can let you know a bit further in advance next time and we can go?" Zach suggested.

"Maybe we can make it a work social? That's a good thing to do together right?" Clary asked as she swooped in to stand in front of Zach whilst Alec moved off to the side to make the latte for the customer. Thank the Lord for Clary.

"Yea, uh I guess so." Zach half-heartedly agreed and then sauntered off back out the shop.

"What is with that guy? I mean I know he's our boss and everything, but he literally met your boyfriend and he's still trying it on with you." Clary exclaimed as the customer moved away from the counter.

"I know. I don't really know what to do about it. I mean besides what I'm doing already and not encouraging it." Alec complained.

Clary made a noise of agreement as another customer walked through the door.

Towards the end of their shift as the coffee shop emptied out a bit Clary pulled Alec to one side and questioned Alec on his date "How did the picnic go down?"

"Really well I think. I mean the food and the idea went down well. But then I asked Magnus to be my boyfriend, yea I know corny right, and I cut my lip open on a rose thorn and-" Alec started to explain.

"What? How did you cut your lip open?" Clary almost yelled.

"So I wanted to make a big gesture about asking Magnus to be my boyfriend so I stuck a rose in my mouth and got down on one knee but then Magnus had this horrified look on his face and I thought I'd completely misinterpreted what he wanted but turns out I had just blood gathering on my lips from where the thorns on the rose had cut my lip open" Alec finished explaining.

"Right...but he said yes in the end?" Clary asked hopefully.

"Yea" Alec confirmed. It was the end of their shift now so they went out back into the staff room when they saw Chad walking in.

"Cool, so did you consummate the relationship?" Clary asked wiggling her eyebrows at Alec.

"Did I what?" Alec retorted. Why was she talking about eating?

"You know like when people get married they have to consummate the marriage to make it official. Did you get some or what Alec?" Clary finished with exasperation.

"Oooohhh, I see. Well would you look at that. I better get home. Izzy's got a date or something and she wants to buy a new dress so I said I'd be home on time. So I really must be going." Alec rambled as he grabbed his coat off the hook and rushed out of the back door. He unlocked his car as he was getting in he heard Clary shouting something about her just asking Magnus instead.

xXx

"How do I look?" Izzy asked Alec as she walked into the living room. Alec twisted in his seat where he was feeding Max dinner to cast his eyes over Izzy. For once, he didn't want to tell her to go and change. He knew that he was an over protective big brother but she was 18 and he didn't want her being stared at by pervs or something like that.

"Wow, you look beautiful Izzy" Alec said honestly. She had a pale pink, knee length dress on that had a shimmer to the fabric, with knee high white boots and a beige tailored coat over the top and a fur scarf around her neck. She looked completely presentable. By this point usually he'd be trying to get her to even wear a coat out, whilst she protested about fashion coming before comfort.

"So who is the date with today?" Alec queried whilst he turned back round to Max to resume putting pieces of food on a fork and passing it to him.

"Actually it's the same guy that I met on new years eve, the one who took me out for brunch and walked me all the way back here" Izzy said with a hint of proper happiness in her voice. Something Alec wasn't sure he'd heard in a while. Yes, Izzy went on quite a few dates and went out with her friends a lot but he often got the impression that she was trying to keep herself busy and somewhat force herself to try to feel proper happiness.

"Oh yea, the one who slept with you after knowing you for five minutes. That guy?" Alec said sarcastically, although he was secretly a little pleased, if this kid had walked his sister back home and brought out some form of joy in her then that was fairly good in his books.

"No actually, I didn't sleep with him. I just didn't correct Jace when he came to that conclusion. Actually he didn't even kiss me. You and Jace just left me at the club on my own and Simon apparently saw me outside when the club closed at 3am as he was driving down the street after a gig. Obviously I could barely stand because I'd been drinking for eight hours by then, and so he took me to his flat and put me to bed cos I couldn't tell him where I lived." Izzy protested.

Wow, did Alec feel like a jerk. Not only did he just jump to the conclusion that his sister put out, but also he realised he had just left her at the club, assuming that her and Jace would come home together, as he was focused solely on Magnus.

"Woah, sorry Iz. I really shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion. He sounds like the kind of guy you deserve. Is he picking you up? I want to thank him." Alec apologised.

"Don't worry brother, based off past experience I don't really blame you. But yes, he is picking me up in about ten minutes so you can thank him then." Izzy said before she walked over to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.

As Izzy was rinsing the glass out the doorbell rang. Alec went to get up to answer it but Izzy hurried past him to beat him to the door.

"Hey Simon, nice to see you again, you're early.." Izzy greeted. Alec walked over to stand behind Izzy, waiting for her to open the door a bit wider so he could introduce himself to this Simon kid.

"Oh, well, sorry, I guess I walked a bit quickly. I can come back in a bit if you want… l-like if you aren't ready or something. Although you look super pretty so I'm sure you are ready, b-but if you want more time-" Simon stumbled over his words as Izzy just grabbed the lapel of his coat and pulled him through the door.

"This is my big brother Alec, and that over there, putting mash potato up his nose is my little brother Max." Izzy gestured across the room.

"Nice to meet you Simon. I just wanted to say thank you for looking after Izzy on New Years. I really appreciate it. It's good to know there are still good guys out there." Alec warmly greeted as he took Simon's hand and shook it.

"Oh erm, yea, no worries. I couldn't have just left her there, so, yea, yea no problem." Simon responded. Alec was sizing him up. He was a good few inches shorter than Alec, but most guys were, and he definitely wasn't the sort of guy Izzy usually went for, that was for sure. He had mousy brown curly hair that looked like a mop on the top of his head, glasses, and he was wearing tatty converse on his feet. Yea this was definitely not Izzy's normal type.

"Shall we go then?" Izzy urged as she pulled Simon along by the elbow back through the door.

"Yea, erm, sure. Well it was nice to meet you Alec. Bye Max" Simon called as he was being dragged backwards.

Alec closed the door on them and walked back over to Max sighing at the state he'd managed to get himself in from being left alone with his food for only a minute.

xXx

 **What are you up to Blue Eyes? I'm home alone. Well Finn is sleeping and I'm bored xx**

 **Nothing much, Max is in bed too and Izzy's out so just reading on the sofa xx**

 **Cool. How was the rest of your day? Xx**

 **It was alright, although Zach was a bit weird again at work. How was your day? Xx**

 **What do you mean by weird? He was kind of strict with you last time right? Like that? Xx**

 **Yea, not quite like that. Basically yesterday he said he had a spare ticket to a comedy show so did I want it but I already had plans with you so I told him that and he kind of stormed out. It was odd. Then today he came in seemingly just to tell me how great it was and that I missed out xx**

 **That is odd. Well the storming out part. I guess it's not so weird that he offered you a spare ticket though. Anyway what are you wearing? Xx**

Alec may have bent the truth slightly, it wasn't really just a spare ticket, it was more of 'I have two tickets and I want you to go with me' sort of thing.

 **Yea maybe. Why do you want to know what I'm wearing? Xx**

 **I just do, please, I'm bored. Indulge me xx**

 **Well I'm just wearing what I was wearing earlier when you saw me before you left. What are you wearing? Xx**

 **Oh well I'm glad you asked Blue Eyes. I'm wearing these really tight leather trousers and this white mesh vest top, that's basically see through xx**

 **I thought you said you were bored? Are you just texting me to kill time before you go out or something? Xx**

 **No, I'm not going out. I'm just laying on my bed, texting my boyfriend because I want to xx**

Alec smiled at the word boyfriend. It was nice to see.

 **Oh well, why aren't you just wearing those weird silk pyjama pants you own then? It sounds like you're wearing going out clothes xx**

 **Jeez Alec, I'm trying to get you to sext with me. I'm not actually wearing those clothes, I'm just trying to get your imagination flowing xx**

It made sense to Alec then. He did think it was a little weird that Magnus was wearing those clothes.

 **Magnus, I'm not going to sext with you. Isn't that for teenagers? Xx**

 **Maybe, but you're only just about not a teenager and you make me feel like a teenager again, so why don't we just give it a try? Xx**

 **No. I'm going to get back to my book, text me later when you want to talk about proper stuff xx**

 **Fine - I'm going to watch America's next top model if you won't even attempt sexting with me xx**

Alec laughed to himself. Magnus was sometimes super mature and responsible, like when it came to Finn and his job, but the rest of the time, he could be so much like a teenager it was ridiculous. He loved all things sparkly and made crude jokes and thought the best way of getting Alec's attention was to poke him. But it was all of Magnus' quirks that Alec was falling for.


End file.
